Spell Of A BlueBlood
by Scioneeris
Summary: Yuki accidentally invokes an ancient spell binding Zero and Kaname together. Chaos and confusion reigns as their complicated lives become more twisted and tangled. KxZ/ZxK & YorixYuki
1. Chapter 1 : Beginning of Everything

**A/N: I've recently been obsessed with Vampire Knight and couldn't resist starting my own AU spinoff, because the story is just rattling around in my head and I figured, why not just write it out? It is my first VK fic, so um *gulp* I hope it do it justice. The setting will be AU in a sense, because the pairings will be as followed, KanamexZero(M/M) and YukixYori (F/F) and take place before Kaname has defeated Rido. **

**Summary: Yuki accidentally brings to life a binding spell linking Zero and Kaname to each other in a way the two never imagined, much less desired. The spell causes new disruptions in her already confusing life as Yuki struggles with the fact of whether she can love Zero, if she loves Kaname...and why her heart aches at the very sight of her best friend, Yori.**

**WARNING: CONTAINS YAOI/YURI, meaning girlxgirl and boyxboy. Rated M for later chapters and such themes. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters and plot bunnies. **

Title: Spell of a BlueBlood

Chapter 1 **  
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><p>"Zero?" Yuki called softly, tip-toing into the living room, in search of the silver-haired boy. She'd stayed up with the Chairman, coaxing him to drink the ginger tea she'd made to help with his cold. He'd been more interested in gushing over her talent, the china cup containing the tea and anything else but actually drinking the home-brewed concoction.<p>

As she made her way towards the front door, intending to retreat to her room in the Day dorms, Yuki finally saw him. A faint feeling of warmth curled through her chest as she realized he'd fallen asleep on one of the sofa's, stacks of books around him, one cracked open and hugged to his chest, rising and falling with his slow, shallow breaths.

The warmth registered with a sudden pang of pain and a twinge of guilt, prompting the kind-hearted girl to move forward, moving as quietly as she could, to approach his sleeping form. Snagging the quilted throw from the opposite sofa, Yuki carefully draped it over the sleeping form. She stilled as he twitched, faintly, as if registering her presence, then relaxing, sensing no danger from her.

The action drew a sorrowful expression to paint her tired face as Yuki's gaze flickered to the book clutched tightly to his chest. The pointed edge was jammed up beneath his throat in a way that she thought would surely be painful, but he slept on as if oblivious to his own discomfort. Her lips pursed in thought as she arranged the blanket around the book and then gently tried to pull it free from his sleepy-clutches.

At first, it was as if his hands were welded to the book in question and Yuki's pursed lips quickly turned to an annoyed grimace. Zero could be endearing at times, but first and foremost he could always be so incredibly irritating. It took some effort to wrestle it away from him and she wasn't the least bit surprised that he remained asleep throughout the entire thing. She huffed, jerking the edges of the quilt to cover his chest and the empty space the book had occupied a moment before.

He clutched a handful of the soft cloth, as if to make up for the sudden loss of the book, but didn't stir any further than that. Yuki stood over him, watching, cradling the book carefully in her arms, hugging the open volume to her chest. She'd kept his page marked and now as she searched for a spot to put the book down, she realized that there were various stacks of books littering the floor and coffee table.

Zero must've been doing some sort of research, she mused, glancing at the titles that either had something to do with hunter history or charm lore. Her mind flickered back to the image of his hunter master, Toga Yagari. That drew a decided scowl, she still wasn't sure what to think of the man that seemed to think of Zero as nothing more than a lost case. Her chest heaved, locking in a breath that seemed to stubborn to escape and Yuki gave herself a deliberate shake.

Now wasn't the kind of time for this. She needed to get back to the Day dorms and grab a few hours of snatched sleep before the Night class made their usual appearance and she'd be forced to play the perfect prefect again. With a sigh, she released her hold on the book, allowing it to fall back into her hands as she found herself staring at faintly glowing, cream-colored pages.

Tendrils of curiosity snaked through her as she found her eyes drawn to silvery-light blue words scripted on the page in a lovely writing that was simply too beautiful to ignore. The stubborn breath in her throat finally escaped and she found herself staring at the pages with something like awe and amazement mingled together as she reverently cradled the volume in one hand, allowing the other hand to tentatively trail across the scripted words.

Whatever kind of research he was doing, Yuki was absolutely sure she'd never seen this sort of book before—and when she held it up, checking for a title, there was none. A wave of panic washed over her as the book began to glow brighter as if in protest of her nearly closing it in her haste to see if it was something she really ought to be holding onto at all.

The brighter glow brought along a new sensation, a tingling warmth that spread through her as she found her gaze unexplainably drawn to the beginning of the scripted paragraphs on the top of the right page. It was titled as "_The Test of Two Lovers_" and Yuki nearly died when she realized it was a love poem.

What on earth had Zero been doing reading love poems at this hour?

That of course, brought a fierce blush to the forefront and Yuki struggled to push those embarrassing thoughts and feelings away. She didn't want to think of those kinds of things yet—at least not with Zero, he was too much like a brother to her in some ways and too much like something else that her heart wasn't ready for.

Thinking in such directions only brought another face to mind and this time the blush stayed as Yuki remembered pale light of morning dancing across Kaname's face the day before. Sometimes it felt as if she lived for the rare, simple moments like those, where she would see him in all his proud glory, practiced gentleness on display for her eyes alone as he would smile and whisper a greeting, regardless of their audience.

The painful pang in her chest, registered again for the second time as she felt the tinge of guilt darken by a few degrees. She'd had a crush on him, good grief, it'd been so much more than just an ordinary schoolgirl crush. He'd been perfect as far as she was concerned—too perfect at times, almost.

A shiver ran through her and Yuki's thoughts short-circuited appropriately as she realized the book in her hands was growing warmer by the second. She swallowed hard, her attention once more drawn to the elegant script and she suddenly found herself whispering the words aloud as she read them with quiet awe.

They were beautiful, lovely words, speaking of unbridled loyalty, understanding love, unlimited trust and a connection so deep, it was etched into the very souls of each lover.

"Betwix them, love is desperately more than life, it is never a master, never a slave, solely a whispered echo of another's heart. Time shall test them, eternity shall try them and in the sheltered hallows of their souls—forever is until the dawn of time."

Solitary tears trickled down her face as Yuki whispered the last line aloud. She blinked, uncomprehendingly, unable to understand the strange wave of grief and finding her mind too muddled to full appreciate the beautiful words speaking of a trusted bond so precious she yearned for it. Hurriedly wiping her face with the back of one hand, she struggled to hold the book, it was mysteriously heavier than before she'd started.

Zero stirred faintly on the sofa and Yuki swallowed hard, smacking the tears away from her face. The last thing she needed was for Zero to see her crying, he'd jump to the kind of conclusion that would only lead to more awkwardness between them and she simply couldn't have that right now. She just couldn't.

"…Yuki?" Zero's sleepy voice rang out in the silence of the darkened living room.

Yuki squeezed her eyes shut as two more tears trickled out. She couldn't help it at all. "Zero?" She breathed, forcing her voice to try and sound more normal. To sound like anything but the way she was feeling right now.

"Yuki?" The worry drove the sleep from his raspy voice as the young hunter struggled to sit upright with weary-laden limbs that seemed bent on refusing him. "Yuki, what's wrong? What's going on?" Sleep still held him, but Zero was making a valiant effort to rouse himself. He'd smelled the scent of salt and water, his mind making the connection before his heart did. Someone was crying and that someone was Yuki. A knife of pain stabbed through his chest and he coughed, softly, muffling the sound in the sleeve of his uniform jacket.

She still hadn't answered him.

There was a quiet knock somewhere else in the house and both heads snapped up.

Zero grabbed his head with one hand, already knowing the answer to that unspoken question. There was a faint growl in the back of his throat. He didn't want to deal with that now. He really didn't want to deal with it now. "Ignore it, Yuki." He muttered. "It can wait."

Yuki opened her mouth to answer and instead, a quiet sob escaped.

The knocking stopped.

Something dashed through the room, blurring to stop in front of the crying girl.

Zero growled, louder and more audibly this time.

Yuki gave a muffled gasp as the something turned out to be a someone that caught her up in a crushing hug. For one delicious moment, she absolutely could not breathe and then the familiar scent filled her senses and she felt her body begin to relax without hesitation. "Kaname-senpai?" She whispered, unable to believe that he was really there and really holding her.

She knew her mind was not playing tricks on her though, because Zero was suddenly there, one hand on each of their shoulders, as if to separate them and she suddenly found her voice. "Zero! Kaname-senpai…Zero, Kaname-!" The book in her arms flared a brilliant, bright yellow and Yuki felt the very breath sucked out of her body as Kaname's arms fell away from her, Zero's hand on her shoulder peeled away as the book continued to burn fiercely with the bright, warm light, illuminating the room, three surprised faces in various stages of horror, terror and worry.

As she held it in her arms, the pages with the lovely blue-silver script suddenly merged into a swirling mass of silvery-blueness and with warning, it leapt from the page in the form of pale, silken ribbons, one streaking out towards Zero and the other towards Kaname. Latching onto their left hands, the ribbon slithered beneath the shirtsleeves, disappearing from sight, but drawing quite vocal reactions from both vampires.

A tempered hiss, a muffled grunt and nearly identical snorts as both boys glared at each other.

The book in her hands seemed to grow heavier as the golden glow bled to a brilliantly vivid blue so clear that it hurt to look at it. Yuki squinted through the glaring light, her gaze drawn to the only things remaining on the pages. The elegantly scripted words had all vanished, there was only as strange blue symbol formed in its entirety by spilling over onto the other page, half on each side. As she watched, small, cursive letters appeared beneath the completed symbol and the guilty twinge burned deeper into her chest.

_"…with these words, I bind these two as lovers with the sky and the earth bearing witness. Let no one break apart, that which love has taken to heart."_

Two identical exclamations of surprise caught her ears and Yuki's head jerked upright to see Kaname and Zero both scrabbling with their left arms, trying to scratch at something that wasn't there.

Something that shouldn't have been there.

On Zero's smooth, creamy skin, thin, blue lines seemed tattooed onto his arm, in a twisting mass of some complicated pattern, ending just as it reached his wrist. On Kaname's pale, lovely skin, the blue lines seemed to burn even more vividly, an identical replica of the same intricate pattern displayed on Zero's body, also stopping just short of his wrist.

"You-!" Zero began, his eyes blazing with hatred. "How-" A choked sound came out instead and he clutched his stomach, an expression of intense pain immediately overwriting whatever he'd been about to say or do.

Kaname eyed him with something akin to disdain, when a peculiar wince flickered across his normally impassive features. One hand went to his mouth, hiding the lower half of his face from view as his eyes skittered to Yuki.

For a moment, she was frozen, the expression of such incredible pain left her feeling helpless and weak-kneed, a sensation that melted away when she realized that he wasn't looking at her—but rather the book in her hand. For the first time, she could read horror in his face.

For the second time that night, she couldn't breathe.

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><p><strong>~*~*~ Whew. That turned out longer than I expected, but thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined, I'd love to know what you think.~*~*~ ^_^ <strong>


	2. Chapter 2 : Push and Pull Inside

**A/N: WOW! I am completely floored by the response to this fic. *nervous* Thank you all for the comments/reviews and faves. I really, really hope this second chapter lives up to the first. I'll be explaining the book, the ribbons and stuff soon, in the meantime let me know what you think. The plot with develop a tad slowly and pick up as the story continues. Happy reading!**

**(for summary and warnings, see first chapter) Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters/ideas and plot bunnies. **

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><p>Kaname's gaze remained fixed on the large, hardcover volume clutched tight in Yuki's trembling hands. For a moment, the pureblood could swear that he'd felt a heartbeat come from the inanimate object and that was something he absolutely could not ignore, however, his mind was temporarily preoccupied with more trying things at the moment.<p>

Such as the shooting pain in his left side that brought a very real grimace to the surface and the very visible tattoo that was now painted across his usually flawless body. It was painful enough that his hand had automatically shifted to hide the expression he was sure had danced across his face. He had quite a threshold for pain—more than the average vampire, that was for sure—so what was it and why did it hurt?

The painful pangs deepened with an unexpected twinge and Kaname swallowed any possible vocalizations of discomfort, his sharp eyes catching a hint of movement from the silver-haired hunter standing barely a few feet away from him, just within reach. It was almost as if Zero was in as much or more pain than he, for the boy was practically doubled over, clutching his chest, heaving gasping breaths between the agonizing expressions painted vividly on his typically blank face.

Something was definitely wrong.

A choking sound came from Yuki and both boys jerked to some form of attention, attempting to lurch towards her. Kaname forced his hand to fall back to his side as Zero straightened with some difficulty, one hand still wrapped around his stomach, a scowl replacing his grimace.

"Yuki?" Zero tried, his voice hoarse.

Kaname was closer however, and he stretched one hand towards the wavering girl. Yuki was barely standing, her entire body trembling uncontrollably from head to toe, her knees almost knocking together in their wobbling. She was clutching an open book to her chest and her brown eyes were wide with a mixture of disbelief, fear and something else that the pureblood could not quite read. "Yuki…" He breathed, his hand almost to her shoulder. "What-?"

The petite girl shuddered, her body jerking before her eyes rolled upwards in her head and she collapsed in a tangled heap on the floor at his feet. The book had shut in the awkward transition from mid-air to the ground, and her arms remained loosely wrapped around the volume as her head lolled forward to rest on the pointed edge tucked beneath her chin.

"Yuki!" Zero nearly screamed, suddenly able to push the searing pains away and stagger close enough to reach for her. The sight of the precious girl sprawled so wrongly on the floor was an image that burned deep into his mind. It was almost as if it were taunting him, that for all of his good intentions and efforts, he was still unable to protect the thing dearest to him. To protect what he cared about and keep it safe from harm. "Kuran!" He growled. "Don't you touch her you bast-" The pain returned in full-force.

The silver-haired boy's words were abruptly cut off when his amethyst eyes grew round in response to the inner battle he suddenly struggled with. Pain was screaming through every fiber of his body and standing in front of the pureblood suddenly made him feel vulnerable and raw as if the smoldering dark eyes were staring right through him, attention successfully diverted from the limp body at their feet. Zero drew a shaky, uneven breath as the weight of the older vampire's gaze drilled through him, searching, penetrating almost daring him to speak.

But he couldn't. Zero found his voice mysteriously missing as his body stubbornly chose to focus solely on the pain that was now growing to nearly unbearable portions. Pain he was used to, pain he was familiar with and at this moment, it was making him feel useless and dirty in a way that the ex-human didn't like at all. This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all. He'd been sleeping—not peacefully, but sleeping nonetheless—and he'd felt when Yuki had passed through the room, calling out for him. He'd opted to stay quiet, knowing that if he were awake, one of her clumsy lectures would be sure to follow and he hadn't thought he could stay consciously awake to listen to her. It had been a wonderfully unexpected pleasure to register the warmth of the quilted throw and Yuki's strawberry-scented fingers tucking the edges around him. His only reluctance had surfaced in the moment where she'd tried to pry the book from his hands, Master Touga had assigned the box of books as something of a punishment and something of a distraction.

Zero was bright enough to tell it was a mixture of both, the older vampire hunter had scolded him for a recent episode on one of his last missions, warning him that instinct was not quite everything in their changing times. He'd then challenged the younger boy to read up on a collection of historical volumes recently unearthed from a recent fire that had burned a noble's estate to the ground. A vampire noble. The books contained countless pages of practical applications for charms and chapters of detailed folklore, historical recollections and many handwritten notes throughout the margins. It had truly been a treasure to the Hunter Association and it was only through Master Togua's influence that he, an ex-human vampire-still-hunter was able to get his hands on them.

His mind muddled and spilled over as Zero was jerked back to the present by movement at his feet. Kaname was crouched on the floor beside Yuki, one hand gently caressing the pale smoothness of her neck. There was worry written all over his features and no mistaking the tension bunched in the older vampire's body, but Zero felt his body betray him as he tried to react to the scene. A flash of red fury blazed through him, streaking in front of his eyes and dulling his senses to focus on a singular emotion—one that the silver-haired hunter did not want to dwell on. He only processed the fact that Yuki was still alive and well and that the pureblood had been checking for a pulse, despite the fact that such an action was entirely unnecessary.

"Don't touch her-!" He growled, willing his body to move in spite of the painful spikes washing over him and succeeding in grabbing Kaname's shoulder.

The reaction was instantaneous and painful on both sides.

Kaname had turned to meet him, chocolate-brown eyes faintly rimmed in red, a darkened expression of anger showing plainly on his chiseled features. Zero's hand had barely, if at all, brushed against the shoulder of his long, black coat and an almost visible charge of energy sent both vampires sprawling in opposite directions, flung apart by some invisible force.

Their expressions mirrored each other's for the briefest of seconds and then the usual surges of anger had brought them to their feet again. But before either side could lash out, Kaname had clutched his left arm with a hiss and Zero's muffled groan had escaped before the ex-human doubled over again.

"Whatever you're-" But the thought didn't finish. This time, the pain touched on a deeper level that Zero couldn't fathom at all. He saw red, he saw blue and then he saw black, rushing towards him with a definitive sureness that he absolutely could not give in to. He didn't want to, in fact, he loathed the very thought of it, but the option remained there, highlighted before him and Zero silently berated himself as he took one step backwards from the now silent, glaring pureblood.

Relief flooded through him in a form he hadn't thought possible, the tightness in his chest eased the tiniest of a fraction and Zero was only able to note the conscious change in comfort levels. His body responded automatically, his feet moving back another step and then another. The pain lessened again by minute levels before Zero turned and bolted.

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><p>Kaname watched in sudden disbelief as the prickly young hunter had grown unnaturally still before inching back a few scant footsteps. The sudden crushing pressure he'd felt around him lessened to some degree and it was a welcome change, even if he could not yet determine how it had come about. His thoughts were disrupted by the silver-haired hunter suddenly turning on his heels and bolting for the front door. He could sense the inner turmoil rolling off in thick angry waves, but Zero's course of action had still shocked him to the core. He'd never pegged the boy as being one to leave Yuki in such a position as now and he could faintly sense the other's presence fading as Zero set some distance between them.<p>

His gaze flickered downwards to the faintly breathing girl and the pureblood noted with grim satisfaction that he could now double-check for sure if she was alright without the other boy's interference. Crouching beside her, Kaname brushed her hair away from her face, about to shift her body into a more comfortable position when a jolt of energy shot through him. It wasn't necessarily painful, but it was decidedly uncomfortable as feelings of pain, guilt and jealousy ran through him.

The pureblood recoiled, feeling his left arm burning and throbbing fiercely. Warily he eyed the sleeping Yuki only to feel the throbbing in his arm migrate upwards into a pounding headache. He didn't like that at all. His attention fixed on the hardcover volume hugged to her chest and he felt the headache stab into him with renewed ferocity. There was something about that book that didn't sit well with him—and the fact that Yuki was clinging to it so desperately made his innards churn with frustration as he attempted to touch it, only to have another spike of the weird energy forcing him backwards.

He couldn't touch her, much less the book.

That was a rather frustrating development, but Kaname was a pureblood vampire and pureblood vampires were known for using their heads whenever they could not directly involve themselves in a troubling matter at hand. So Kaname did just that. Mentally reaching out to the other presence within the building, he searched for the glow that he knew was Chairman Cross. It wasn't hard to pick up on the overly optimistic vibes and the faint mental barriers betraying the Chairman's hunter past.

Gently, with some effort, Kaname projected the image of Yuki on the floor into the sleeping man's mind with a faint brush of his pureblood powers. It was all he could do at the moment and when he felt the older man respond, a new feeling of fear channeled back to him.

Chairman Cross could be almost as absent-minded as his adopted daughter, but wherever said precious daughter was involved, the Chairman could become quite a formidable opponent.

Kaname scowled, darkly. He should stay. He wasn't like Zero. He didn't have to run away. He shouldn't have to run away. But as those thoughts scrolled through his mind, the headache bore down on him with a crippling wave of pain. Stumbling one step backwards brought a tinge of relief and Kaname was finely attuned to his body's signals to miss the reaction. Taking a more obvious step backwards from Yuki brought a much better response than he'd expected and a pained expression appeared on his pale face as he backed away and towards the door where Zero had recently run.

It was probably best to retreat—for purely logical reasons, the pureblood told himself, exiting the room and standing in the hallway. He blurred to the front door and outside with vampire speed, streaking through the darkened campus, relieved to find the pain easily sloughing away from him with the increased distance between the Chairman's office and the Moon Dorms.

With that annoyance out of the way, his pureblood mind was able to return to what it was best at—puzzling through the scene he'd left behind. There'd been something wrong with that book. It hadn't missed his attention that the very book had almost seemed alive for a few seconds, a tangible entity with an actual heartbeat. It hadn't missed his attention that a very real blue and silver ribbon had emerged from the book and entwined itself with his left hand, the physical ribbon meshing into something else entirely, branding into his body with a burning pain and a beautifully intricate design that was still nagging at the back of his mind. Kaname could almost swear he'd seen something like that or something equally similar in one of the rare historical books from Takuma's library.

He made a mental note to request it from his friend and his steps slowed to a more normal pace as he strolled up the walkway towards the Moon Dorms. His mind was a whirling mess at the moment and he was almost caught off guard when he realized the restless gaggle of vampires standing or sitting on the front steps were waiting for him.

Kaname stifled a groan inwardly.

He hadn't been counting time that well, it seemed it was much later than he'd thought after all. A stubborn inkling of rebellion rooted in his stomach. He didn't want to go to class. Didn't want to sit in the large lecture hall and pretend to be calm in front of the obnoxious one-eyed vampire hunter-turned-teacher. He'd do well to mask his discomfort and feelings from his own inner circle and if he should choose to skip one evening, Takuma would cover for him in the absence of his authority.

His head tipped forward, face partially hidden by the upturned collar of his long black jacket, hanging open at the front to reveal his pristine white Night Class uniform. The gaggle of vampires parted seamlessly as he approached and ascended the stairs. Modulating his aura to something indifferent, he caught his friend's eye with the faintest of nods.

Takuma hurried into the dorms after him and Kaname waited until the door had shut behind him, already halfway up the stairs leading to his private room. "I will not be attending classes tonight, Takuma." He murmured, continuing down the hallway and to his room at the far end.

There was no answer, but Kaname didn't expect one as he heard the front door open and close once more as Takuma left. He didn't need to explain himself and there was absolutely nothing the green-eyed vampire could have said in return. The bedroom door swung open noiselessly at a mental nudge from the pureblood. It closed in the same manner as Kaname shuffled to the center of the room and felt his legs buckle beneath him.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he willed his mind to listen and obey.

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><p>Chairman Cross stumbled unsteadily down the hallway a miniature flashlight in hand, clutching his shawl tighter around his chilled body. He shouldn't be up and around, Yuki was sure to have his head for it, but the fact that it had been Yuki's fault for his awakening in the first place, the Chairman figured he was safe enough.<p>

He'd been sleeping, having wonderful, fluffy, flowery dreams of the beautiful life his precious little Yuki would lead. Then it had happened. A sudden, stark image of Yuki sprawled helplessly on the floor of the living room, clutching a book to her chest, the only indication of life, the faint, shallow breaths leaving her petite body. Fear itself seemed to radiate throughout him, jerking the man from his slumber and forcing him into the world of the living—in terms of those awake.

Barely taking the time to shove his feet in slippers, the Chairman had wound his shawl around his dressing robe, sloppily knotting it at his waist before stumbling out the bedroom door and hurrying as best as he could down the hall. There was something troublesome about the picture and he didn't like it at all.

There was also a nagging feeling in the back of his head that refused to be put to rest by thinking of Yuki's general clumsiness and the fact that if something were to happen, that Zero would no doubt be somewhere close at hand. As he rounded the corner in the hallway and turned the light on, a very real fear registered in the moment where the flashlight's beam illuminated what he could not see before the room flooded with light.

Yuki was sprawled awkwardly on the floor, clutching a book to her chest, her breathing in labored, panting breaths.

Exactly like the dream.

The Chairman swallowed the stream of words threatening to bubble out of his mouth. None of them were sensible and coherent and he deliberately brushed them aside, hurrying to his adopted daughter's side, cramming the flashlight in one pocket. Gathering her easily in his arms, he set her down on the nearest sofa, noting that it seemed as if someone had left in a hurry.

_Zero._

Zero had left in a hurry it seemed, for there were stacks of books around this particular sofa and a pillow with a faint impression, along with a tangled quilt bunched up at the foot of the sofa. The Chairman settled Yuki's head on the pillow with deliberate gentleness, shaking the quilt out and draping it carefully around her.

He didn't miss the fact that she was hugging a giant, hardcover book tightly to her chest as if she couldn't bear for it to be taken away from her. A careful look at the stacks of books surrounding the sofa brought a worried crease to the Chairman's brow. He recognized the seal embossed on the cover of each hardcover volume. He could vaguely recall Touga's mention of them several weeks ago and then of Zero's mumbled explanation when he'd carried the precarious armful into the living room.

How had his precious Yuki gotten ahold of one?

"Yuki…" He moaned, softly. "Daddy's worried about you." Biting his lip, the retired hunter stood, staring down at her, arms crossed over his chest. He sighed, then fumbled in his pockets for the cellphone he'd belatedly crammed in the dressing robe's pocket. He hit the speeddial for Touga and managed to communicate his distress in a simple enough manner for the man at the other end of the line to answer and warn him that he'd be right over.

Pocketing the cellphone, he gently wrapped his hands around the book and tugged. When the sleeping girl resisted, he bent forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead, murmuring something softly into her ear. Her arms slackened and he removed the book, turning it over in his hands.

An immediate change spiraled over Yuki, her body convulsing, curling into a tight ball as the book in the Chairman's hands began to glow fiercely.

He nearly dropped it, opting instead to throw it across the room.

But instead of colliding with the far end of the wall, the book spun to a mid-air hover just a few feet away. A rich golden glow enveloped the book and it opened of its own accord, the pages fanning out before stopping somewhere in the middle. The yellow light continued to burn bright and the book dropped to the ground with a loud, heavy bang.

Ribbons of yellow, blue and silvery energy snaked upwards from the book, twisting, meshing and melding into a tangible figure, the light growing brighter with each passing minute.

Yuki gave a muffled cry from the sofa and the Chairman turned back to her with worried eyes. He felt her forehead and neck, tugging the collar of her school uniform open to ease any possible pressure on her neck. She was really worrying him this time. Seeing her like this and then registering the mysterious book was definitely not the way to start the night.

The faintest touch of another presence registered and the Chairman whirled around, eyes narrowed.

He was completely unprepared for the sight that greeted him.

Standing in the corner of the room was a young man holding the book tucked under one arm as the last faint traces of the golden glow faded away. His rich, thick black hair was drawn into a smooth, sleek ponytail and contrasted sharply with the odd paleness of his very white features, the only other hint of color was his bright, burning sapphire eyes.

The Chairman swallowed.

He was dressed in a pair of black dress slacks and pointed black boots, a white silken shirt hanging open to reveal a smooth, toned chest and a black and blue tattoo of something across his stomach. There was an almost regal bearing surrounding him, a more terrifying version of the vaguely reminiscent aura that Kaname Kuran often seemed to command.

The young man gave a loud, deliberate sigh as he walked forward, his snapping blue eyes holding the Chairman rooted to the spot as he moved forward and brushed his free hand across the older man's temple in a distinct manner. The Chairman started visibly, feeling the touch as a burning spark of energy for what it was. He didn't have the change to respond because the young man had turned his attention to the distressed Yuki tangled in the covers on the couch.

His lips quirked into something almost like a smile.

The Chairman tensed. _Why on earth was Yagari taking his time at a moment like this?_

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><p><strong>~*~*~*~Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter-even if it did drag on a little longer than I intended for it. Feel free to leave a commentsuggestion if you feel so inclined.~*~*~*~ ^_^ **


	3. Chapter 3 : Set In Motion

**A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews/suggestions/faves! I am really happy to know y'all are enjoying the story. I hope this chapter continues to deliver-it's mostly plot stuffs to set up the story, the KxZ is coming soon. ~_^**

**(for summary and warnings, see first chapter) Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters/ideas and plot bunnies. **

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><p>Asato Ichijo strode down the hallway leading up to the gathering of the Vampire Council. He was not necessarily in a bad mood, just a troubled one as his aura blatantly fanned out around him, broadcasting his irritance. He did not bother to announce himself as the two young assistants scrambled to open the chamber doors for him.<p>

Stepping through into the protected room, he waited until the faint slivers of light flickered away—proof that the door had been securely shut behind him. His eyes adjusted instantly to the darkened interior, a long, rectangular room with an ornate table and matching chairs. Various vampires of considerable influence and power were seated according to rank, with one chair at the far end of the room empty. Making his way down the line, the elderly vampire took his seat with something of a huff.

There was a ripple of murmurs through the room and its occupants, then the murmured conversation continued. Ichijo listened with half an ear, his mind more caught up in a singular matter—his sole purpose for answering the meeting summons. The meeting had dragged on for all of a grand total of fifteen minutes before the esteemed man simply lost his temper.

"I have not the time nor the patience to spare for you frivolities today, Hakuma." He glowered at the unofficial mediator for the council's meetings.

His old friend merely smirked. "Throwing a tantrum because we are all not cowering at your feet, Asato?" He spoke just loud enough for the man to hear him and none of the other vampires present. Clearing his throat, he pushed away from the table, rising to his feet. "For all in attendance today, it is time to discuss the matter of the Nozaen family and the recent…tragedy that brought about a, uh-" The tall, slender vampire wrinkled his bushy eyebrows.

"Have any of their relatives contacted us on their behalf?" A short, tanned vampire spoke up, his bleached-blond hair cut in choppy bangs over his angular face, his eyes betraying his rank and status as an elder in attendance. "We are under no obligation to act if there have been no formal requests for-"

There was a snort from the far end of the table, a dark-haired beauty preening her fingernails, her lips twisted in a permanent pout. "Is that all you think about, Henri? The proper ways to go about everything? We are already involved, whether actively as the council or not, but the Hunter Association has already begun pawing through the debris, surely we could not stand by idly and pretend that-"

"Was it your family, Thessica?" Ichijo snapped. "Your family to step in and interfere?"

"If you mean to recover the bodies and have them spirited away for…investigative purposes, then yes." She tossed a handful of silky hair over her bony shoulders. "If you mean to retrieve all useful items from the mansion before setting it afire, then yes and if you mean to clear the tracks of the council's involvement—then yes. Should you mean anything else, I warn you Ichijo—I care not for your influence. It pains my stomach."

"Then perhaps you should eat less." Henri suggested, blithely. "Then again, it seems as if you are not eating well to begin with."

"Shut your mouth you insolent-!"

"Silence!" Ichijo spoke with a cold voice demanding their attention. "It has not escaped my attention that you support her, Henri, and Thessica, I am aware that your…reports, as of late, have been lacking."

Silence reigned.

Thessica yawned.

Henri frowned.

Hakuma cleared his throat, reseating himself. "I have received the most recent reports and there is no news on these…bluebloods." He said the last word with every scrap of disgust he could muster. "They are perversions of vampires and unworthy of existence, however, that which they commanded at their disposal shall be ours when the tests are complete." He tapped his finger on a slender file folder that lay on the table before him. "It would seem that they still live among us, hidden from our current efforts, however, with this knowledge, we shall be closer to our original goals than before." He sighed. "Now then, on the business of that ridiculous so-called Cross Academy, I would also like to know your thoughts on it…?"

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><p>It pained him to sit through the remainder of the meeting. Ichijo was sorely tempted to leave several times as he cared little for the speculation and conversation after the topic's change. He merely had wanted to see Thessica himself about her recent lack of information concerning the remains of a supposed blueblood noble family.<p>

He wanted proof.

He needed proof.

It had been centuries since there had even been word about a blueblooded vampire, much less a living one. It had been a stroke of sheer luck to come across the anomaly of the Nozaen family. An old noble family of good standing and bearing, who raised their children as human until of a certain age, calling out their vampire side in their teenage years. Some unfortunate accident had resulted in the death of a human-turned child and through details not yet confirmed, Ichijo had learned that the entire family had perished one after another in an attempt to protect the injured child, leading to a direct confrontation with the vampire council itself—namely Henri—who had somehow managed to be present for the tragedy.

In thanks to the indifferent vampire, the family's sole survivor—a young girl had managed to lead them to the Nozaen family home, a magically protected estate allowing none but blood-proofed natives to enter its domain. The foolish runaway daughter had unknowingly led them straight to the very treasure trove the vampire council had sought for centuries. In the following minutes after she realized her mistake, her death had been imminent—as the estate set itself on fire.

Thessica had then stepped in at that point, using her knowledge of vampire charms to counter those attempting to destroy the home, allowing time for others to clean the entire estate of all useful items. Only when it would no longer be plausible as an accident, did the old pureblood allow the charms to vanish.

The Estate had burned for days afterwards, drawing the attention of the surrounding humans and lesser vampires.

Ichijo had fumed for weeks—over his lack of involvement, over the council's apparent indifference to his inquiries and finally, over their awakening sensibilities. He had actively kept up investigations on his behalf for years since he had taken over as head of the Ichijo family. It was partially his own indirect efforts that had brought the Nozaen family to light—that the council would think to keep information from him was unthinkable.

Unthinkable in the way that meant heads would roll and blood would spill.

The scowling elderly vampire took an unnecessary breath and softly blew it out.

Yes, heads would roll and blood would spill.

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><p>Yagari swore softly beneath his breath, tramping through the unfamiliar brush to find the usual pathway the Cross Academy prefects used for a shortcut to the Moon Dorms. His mind was replaying the conversation with the Chairman and the barely-contained traces of panic in the other man's voice. Granted, he'd heard Kaien's frantic outbursts before in trivial matters such as Yuki's first toothache and Zero's allergic reaction to shellfish, so this was an entirely different sort of panic altogether.<p>

Something was definitely wrong.

The fact that Cross had mentioned Zero's absence wasn't missed by the elderly hunter as he finally crashed through the last bushes and onto a thin strip of worn dirt, marking the designated shortcut of the two teenage prefects. He sighed and growled. He'd need a cigar to even think of calming down as he now increased his speed along the pathway.

He arrived at the gates for the Moon Dorms and scowled when he caught sight of the gaggle of Day Class girls swooning over the approaching time limit. "Oi!" He barked, feeling his temper sparking. "Get back to your dorms, now!" All eyes and heads turned to look at him and suddenly, he was surrounded by a gaggle of young women with flailing arms, demanding that he go away instead and wanting to know why the Night Class was late.

For a moment, he held the briefest respect for Zero and Yuki, knowing that they dealt with such nonsense on a regular basis. He stiffened, drawing on the usual thread of well-contained fury that often worked well for quelling Zero's sometimes inappropriate outbursts.

"If you don't get back to your dorms right now…" He growled, his voice trailing off meaningfully.

The clamoring dropped to silence and one of the girls quivered, her eyes wide. She nibbled at her lower lip and then burst into a shrieking cry, streaking off in the darkness down the pathway to the Day Dorms.

Relief filled the older hunter as he realized that the other girls were hurrying after the first one, a few shooting him some glares and dirty looks. He merely glowered at him with his good eye and that sent them scurrying away even faster than before. That last reaction had been quite satisfying and the realization of it brightened his sour mood by the faintest degree.

Turning his attention back to the Moon Dorm gates, his glare settled defiantly in place as he observed the Night Class's calm procession through the metal doors. One particular face was missing, but the other vampires continued in their solitary shuffle as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

Yagari opened his mouth to speak, when the green-eyed, blond-haired dorm vice-president broke away from the group, offering a respectful tip of his head. "Sensei." He said, a touch of humor in his voice. "Kaname-sama has a headache and is resting in his rooms. He will not be attending class tonight."

The older man snorted. "Even bloodsuckers get headaches?" He scowled. "Fine. Make sure you take his homework for him."

"Of course, Sensei." Takuma murmured, ever polite and responsible as he retreated to the pathway, quickening his pace a fraction to catch up to his classmates.

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><p>The mystery boy in question didn't seem to think anything of his own arrival into the Cross family living room. In fact, he calmly moved over to stand above Yuki and reached down with one hand, brushing it across her forehead in the same manner as he had done for the Chairman.<p>

"Get your hands off my daughter!" The Chairman found his voice, lurching forward to stand between them, hands outstretched.

The boy dodged him easily, sapphire eyes narrowing to half-points. "My apologies…Chairman Cross." There was a flicker of bright blueness in his eyes and it faded almost as quickly as it had flared.

An undignified squeak left the older man as he stopped short, teetering precariously in his balance, before standing protectively in front of Yuki, arms outstretched. "What did you do?" There was a calmer note in his voice now as he spoke, but his defensive posture hinted that he was nowhere near as calm as he appeared. "Identify yourself, who are you?" His foot shifted just a fraction of an inch to the left, toe pointing, a position used for a shoulder throw enabling the defender to use their body weight against their opponent.

The blue eyes flared faintly again. "That can wait, Chairman." The young man sighed. "I should think that the lovely Miss Yuki, would be your primary concern in this present moment." There was a flicker of distaste that filtered through his pale, white, face, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. "Call me Viktor, if you must." Placing a hand on the Chairman's shoulder, he gently pushed him aside with the faintest touch of pressure. "I am not a threat." Placing the book back within Yuki's trembling arms, Viktor slid his arms under her, lifting the body with ease.

The Chairman's protests died when Yuki's struggling body relaxed visibly, the earlier signs of distress melting away to something almost peaceful in Viktor's arms. "You didn't-"

"She needs to be put to bed and I would need your entire selection of medical remedies at my immediate disposal, her current physiology is not meant to contain and endure such stress." Viktor paused, as if waiting for the older man to respond. "Well?" He inquired, impatiently. "She is human, is she not?"

It was more the way he phrased it than the tone in which he said it that sent the Chairman into a miniature fit that he barely managed to contain inside himself. There were dozens of warning bells and signals sounding off inside of him from years of hunter training and the basic instinct and logic. "Why would you help?"

Slender black eyebrows arched in perfect harmony. "Would you prefer that I did not? Surely you do not wish for her to suffer like this. We have a tentative understanding of each other until I feel inclined to change it otherwise—shall we go now?"

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><p>Zero ran with vampire speed until he felt his breath coming easier. It was a double-sided conflict raging within him and the emotions and feelings welling up inside were too clear to ignore. It wasn't the kind of thing that he liked dealing with it. Feelings were stupid. They were troublesome snippets of bothersome things that only served to clutter his head and chafe his heart.<p>

He hated it.

Mostly because there was one very obvious feeling he couldn't ignore.

Jealousy.

He was aware of it. He was oh so aware of it. He'd felt it before, countless times before, whenever Kuran reached towards Yuki and whenever the air-headed brunette happily obliged to any request from the pureblooded vampire. Yes, Zero decided, he was very much jealous of that.

There was nothing that said he didn't have as much of a right to be by her side as the pureblood did. He hadn't saved her life, but he'd protected it on countless occasions and now on a more nightly basis. The silver-haired hunter muffled an audible growl in his shoulder, having now slowed to a listless walk.

He didn't know exactly where he was or how far he'd run, just that he'd had to get away and now that he was away, the clarity of certain things were drumming and rolling around in his head. One shaking hand reached up, rubbing his ear and then tugging at the silvered strands of hair.

For a moment, he felt as if an incredible headache had pressed over him. The mother of all headaches in the world. Then as quickly as the strange pressure had come, it melted away to nothing, only the original aching pangs of pain registering with a hollow, dullness within. He sank to the ground, relieved to note his natural surroundings of trees and shrubbery.

That was good.

At least, for the moment, it was good enough. He could stay here for a while, stay until his head cleared. Visions of red and blue danced before his eyes and Zero felt his stomach churn, heaving to expel that which was not there. He clutched his stomach, keeling over and gasping into the cool grass.

Jealousy.

A tingle of embarrassment burned through him. It was more along the lines of twisted ridiculousness. When Kaname had reached out and so lovingly caressed Yuki's neck, for a moment, Zero thought he just might kill him for that. It was a vicious feeling immediately overridden by a feeling of definite possessiveness.

Possessiveness over the pureblood.

It wasn't that Kaname was touching Yuki. It was that he was paying attention to Yuki…instead of him.

Zero felt his face burn red with shame, the heat spreading through his body like liquid fire. No, he didn't want to understand that all. Not in the least bit. The only thing he cared about was hating the stupid pureblood. In fact, if he had been able to—a faint stab of pain drove that thought out of his head and back to his earlier train of thought.

Another spike of jealousy coursed through him and he squeezed his eyes shut. Of all that he had witnessed in such a troubling evening, this was bothering him more than anything. He shouldn't care. He really shouldn't care—but he did.

He'd tried to save Yuki, to help her in some way even if he couldn't save her and instead, he'd been useless like always, with Kaname stepping in to play the favored hero. It was a bitter twist of fate that seemed destined to follow him to the end of his days. Of course, with this particular encounter, the hunter was slightly inclined to gift himself a tad more forgiveness on that front.

His stomach slowed its quest to crawl up his throat and Zero felt relief spread through him in a cool, refreshing wave as his eyes finally popped open again. He used the forward momentum of half-kneeling on the ground to tip over to his side and sprawl in the cold, dark grass. It was distinctly soothing and comforting in the same moment as he stared up into the darkened canopy of trees overhead.

He was trying to remember what had happened before he dozed off. He'd been reading one of the charm books, an ancient volume speaking of many kinds of chants, invocations and spells that the young hunter had never even thought possible. His lips pressed together in a frown as he realized it was more so the wealth of information he'd gained from the volumes as a whole, rather than the simple book he'd been perusing that night.

The book spoke of something he'd never heard mentioned in his life.

Of something called blueblooded Vampires. It spoke of them as vicious, domineering creatures with an unhealthy bloodlust for rare blood types and as power-hungry as they came. There were many notations and warnings scribbled across the pages, yet the actual printing of each creamy expanse of paper had borne exquisite scripting for incantations and spells denoted as blueblood traps. He had been reading one particularly interesting passage on a spell of binding before his protesting body had simply decided to go to sleep.

Then Yuki had appeared. Then Kaname.

And then his world had conveniently self-destructed.

Zero covered his face with one weary elbow. He wouldn't think about this. He wouldn't think about it at all.

_Oh yes, you will…_ His mind mocked.

_No, I won't_. He shot back. _Not…yet, anyway._

His eyes slid shut and the young hunter gave into the slumber.

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><p>Kaname lay curled up on the floor of his bedroom, knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around him. He was riding through waves of incomprehensible grief. It didn't make sense. It didn't make a shred of sense, but his entire body was screaming at him with every attempt to make his pain Kiryu's fault.<p>

At first, it had just been a strange emptiness that had swallowed him, but when he put his brilliant mind to work, attempting to figure out the recent weirdness, the pains had come again, this time a greater onslaught that before. Enough of a discomfort that in the privacy of his own room, the weary pureblood had finally succumbed to the physical need to retreat into himself.

His mind was a mess, unable to dwell on Kiryu or Yuki and that troubled him more than anything else. He cared for Yuki, cared for her so much that it hurt—cared for her enough that he spared the wretched excuse of a—a particularly nasty jolt of pain zinged through his body, stabbing somewhere into the corner of his head and he clutched at it with his hands.

There was no peace.

Only pain.

_Zero…_

But the helpless thought held no malice in it and the pain lessened considerably at that.

Kaname struggled to sit up, still holding one hand to his head. The sudden relief was so unexpected, he wasn't sure how to handle it. There was a soft tap on his bedroom door and he stifled the urge to growl at the interruption. He didn't want to be disturbed right now, he wanted silence and time—two blissful necessities that were rare since his arrival at Cross Academy.

He was about to voice his displeasure when his mind caught up with his mouth and he was able to distinguish the vampire aura. "Yes, Seiren?" He heard her shift in front of the door. "Enter." He was on the bed and beneath the covers in the split-second he'd given the order, his shoes hastily kicked beneath the bed, the blankets drawn up to nearly hide his head.

The door cracked open and the silent, ash-haired girl entered with a respectful bow to the room in general, before her sharp eyes settled on the lump on the bed. "Kaname-sama?"

"Report." Kaname forcibly pushed the physical discomfort away, turning it into a mental game to keep his mind on track. "What is it?" If she had left the Night Class to come and report to him, it meant for sure that something had happened.

"Asato Ichijo has attended the Vampire Council by answering the issued summons."

"Which ones?"

"The ones on exploration and investigation of bluebloods." There wasn't even a hitch in her voice, the report delivered in a flat, emotionless voice. "It would appear that the incident of the recent fire to the Nozaen estate has been confirmed as foul play." The report continued and Kaname listened.

"Thank you, Seiren." He dismissed her afterwards, knowing there wouldn't be much time to work through the information until morning came and other things were put into play. There was too much happening in a single night. The very realization of that fact left a bitter taste in his mouth.

It was in his experience that went things began to grow unnaturally out of control there was always a puppetmaster hidden in the wings, directing his dastardly deeds from the shadows.

That particular thought registered with a groan and Kaname buried his head under a pillow, willing sleep to come for a few blessed moments. This puzzle would have to wait until later, because for all that he knew—whoever was doing the puppeteering would have to be someone of considerable influence and power.

_It would have to be_. He thought stubbornly. That was the only way someone was troublesome as Kiryu could ever be manipulated. The boy was loyal to a fault—he would never do anything to bring harm to Yuki.

Never.

A sudden drowsiness crept over him and with relief, Kaname gave in to the blackness. His mind was already set in motion. Perhaps when he woke, he would be able to take a suitable course of action.

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><p>Yuki was swimming in a pool of darkness.<p>

She knew nothing, felt nothing and strangely, missed nothing. She could hear voices and sounds, but somehow they were inconsequential in a way that she could not quite fathom. The only thing she wanted to settle on was the lovely blackness that enveloped her, protecting her, cradling her, keeping her safe.

If this was death, then it was lovely.

But the peaceful blissfulness did not last long at all.

A strange, beautiful face began to form out of nothing and Yuki found herself fascinated with the pale, creamy skin and thick black hair of the perfect fact that seems to hover just over her, waiting, watching.

Then the eyes opened.

Brilliant, vivid blue eyes that seemed to see right through her, burning through her body until the pain started. Like a fire, it rippled through her in waves of unbearable warmth until the discomfort set in. She was trapped now, the blackness no longer friendly, the reality no longer a mystery.

"Help me!" She cried out, crying for anyone to hear.

But there was no direct answer.

Her cries began.

_Hush. You are giving me a headache._

_Who is it?_

_You are a strange one._

_Help me, please._

_Why should I?_

_Please, just please help me._

_What will you give me if I do?_

_I'll…it hurts, it hurts so bad, please make it stop._

_What will you give me if I do?_

_I'll do anything._

_You should not sell yourself so easily._

_Help me!_

_You are deaf._

_HELP ME!_

_As you wish it._

_Please…_

_My name is Viktor. Who are you?_

_Y-Yuki. She whimpered. Please, Viktor._

_Miss Yuki, I will help you, but in return, you will owe me._

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><p><strong>~*~*~*~Thanks for reading!~*~*~*~Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined~!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4 : The Night Settles

**A/N: I didn't intend to update this quickly-but I've had some more time to write and seeing as this next weekend will be a holiday weekend, I probably won't be able to update then, so I'm treating my lovely readers early. :P Thank you for the wonderful faves and reviews-special thanks to ben4kevin, LuanRima and Kuro-Lunette14-I'm uploading early 'cause of you guys. I hope this chapter delivers. **

**WARNING: Hints of Yaoi/Yuri based relationships/themes in this chapter. (then again if you're reading this fic, I know you know what that means...:)  
><strong>

**(for summary, see first chapter) Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters/ideas and plot bunnies. **

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><p>In the Chairman's quarters, three figures occupied the spare bedroom. Two standing and one bundled beneath the blankets on the bed. A cluster of bottled herbs and other remedies cluttered the top of the nearby nightstand and there was a giant pitcher of cool water and a glass to the side. Yuki whimpered, the sound tugging strongly at the distraught Chairman. He fidgeted for a moment, then leapt to his feet and began to pace the length of the bedroom. He could not help it.<p>

There was a long-suffering sigh from the figure on the chair by the bed. "Could you not do that, Chairman?" There was a faint hint of disapproval in his voice as Viktor turned to glare over his shoulder. "You really should not interrupt me when I am doing this. Pour a glass of water and hold it, if you cannot make your feet still themselves."

The figure on the bed trembled again, even beneath the heap of blankets that were carefully tucked around it. The glare softened to a frown as Viktor turned back, his hands settling again, one on each side of Yuki's face. He was digging through her mind in gentle, careful, swipes, trying to see what she'd been doing before she'd awakened him.

So far, he didn't like what he was seeing at all. As far as he could tell, it had all been a grave mistake—a freak accident of sorts. She'd been on her way to somewhere until the silver-haired boy had caught her eye. In attempting to make him more comfortable, she'd moved The Book. There was something within her, some inkling of vampiric nature that had allowed her to move The Book with ease—to even see and read the words on the page—to complete a spell of such a level. The moment she'd brushed her fingers across the pages, Viktor had awakened in all his capacities.

Seeing her face so close to The Book, he figured she was still reading it and opted to remain within the pages until she was distracted. He didn't want to be the center of attention, he didn't want to be noticed, period. Until the girl had read the spell aloud. Until she had voiced it with every fiber of emotion in her human self. Until she had called it to life. It had cost her something, the spell had become incomplete, a few strands of magical energy embedding itself in her—instead of the two the binding coupled.

Despair had registered when Viktor heard her whisper the two names alternately in quick succession—three times—the necessary number to bind and seal the spell. He hadn't thought she was capable of it, he hadn't thought she had that kind of power within her. She hadn't even been aware of it, but her own unsorted feelings held enough emotional energy to complete the spell and he'd released himself one moment too late to stop it.

By the time he'd managed to step out from the literary prison, both boys were long gone, with only a strange, odd man in an old woman's shawl, with oversized slippers and a hastily tied dressing robe. The man had shown an unusual streak in his sudden protectiveness in the girl and demanded that he leave her alone.

Demanded in a way that made Viktor react in his usual form. It was more from habit than necessity that he'd forcibly taken a copy of the odd man's memories, surprise had registered as he realized that the man was quite old and his mental barrier were fairly strong. It was only general knowledge that Viktor had retrieved and he silently resolved to remedy that later. The man called Chairman was hiding more than he let on and hiding enough of it that a mental probe hadn't been the least bit successful.

There was something there for later thought.

His hands returned to the task before him and Viktor gently massaged the soft spots at the sides of the girl's head. He was channeling tempered energy into the battered body, coaxing it to revive on its own. To cast the spell that she had, the lovely Miss Yuki had almost killed herself.

The pacing Chairman poured himself a glass of water and stood to the side of the bed, piercing brown eyes watching the boy's every move. He didn't drink the water and he didn't move a muscle. A thick, tense silence filled the entire room.

Viktor sighed, drawing back. He'd finally reached her consciousness. The conversation they'd had didn't increase his liking for the troublesome girl. He also didn't like the very obvious vibes that were hinting at the one thing the Chairman hadn't confirmed. The man had insisted the girl was human, a particular argument Viktor resolved to save for another time.

The effects of the spell were settling into her body in a way that promised death. The backlash from giving so much of her life energy had quite nearly killed her as well, she wouldn't have survived on her own with that kind of damage. Viktor had poured several strong draughts of his own energy into her unconscious form in order to bring her to a state where he could interact with her. She was reviving now, slowly, but he knew it would take some time before her body would fully return to its original state.

As much as he disliked humans, it would seem that the girl could be useful, so he continued his ministrations. From what he had pieced together from the fragments of her mind and that of the Chairman, he was beginning to think there was a great deal to be gained from keeping a low profile at the esteemed Cross Academy.

Viktor smirked. He tapped the sleeping girl's cheek with one finger and then turned towards the ever-watchful Chairman. He watched the man's hands tighten around the glass of water. He sighed inwardly, they would have to agree on a treaty of sorts. "It seems we have a great deal to discuss." He began, eyes narrowing. "Shall we start?"

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><p>Yagari was prepared for any number of ridiculous and equally improbable things. He was not, however, prepared for the strange thing that sat at the far end of the kitchen table attempting to drink tea and spectacularly spilling it in a golden brown river down to their lap when the Chairman playing nursemaid finally caught sight of him.<p>

"Touga!" The panicky Chairman leapt from the table, hurriedly wiping and dabbing with a towel, speaking soothingly to the blanketed bundle before diving towards the doorway. He was over the hunter in a minute with wild gestures and frantic explanations between his usual hyperactive dashing to and fro. He finally settled enough to allow his friend to enter the kitchen and there was a faint glint in his saddened brown eyes.

"Cross." The one-eyed man grunted, taking in the strange scene before him and then turning to the now strangely subdued Chairman. He felt a stab of concern as the older man turned away, shuffling towards the kitchen counter, with all intents and purpose to retrieve a cup of tea.

"I'll get it…" He muttered, following him into the kitchen, his gaze flickering back to the strange thing sitting at the far end of the round table. The thing was holding a steaming cup of tea up to its red-faced self, completely swathed in an oversized blanket. A thing resembling a bit of a figure that looked very much like the Chairman's precious adopted darling.

Yagari swallowed, turning away to hurry into the kitchen. He watched his friend painstakingly take his time in retrieving a china cup from the cabinet, rinsing it in the sink, drying it with more care than necessary and then beginning to carry it towards the coffeemaker in the corner. "Coffee?" He inquired, politely.

The hunter nearly choked, barely resisting the urge to throttle the man. "Forget the stupid coffee! What's going on here? What happened?" The questions came in rapid fire and when the ponytailed man calmly began to pour creamer and coffee together, Yagari grabbed his shoulder and forcefully spun him around. "Kaien!"

For a moment, the once-strong hunter was now every inch of the weary headmaster he seemed, head bowed, shoulder's drooped, eyes averted. "What do you want me to say?" He said, quietly. "I've always trusted your judgment, tell me, am I seeing things in my old age?" The coffee was forgotten as a new set of footsteps caught their attention, announcing a newcomer to the kitchen.

Yagari felt a dangerous shiver pass through him as the Chairman suddenly stiffened, squaring his shoulders before striding purposefully towards the dining room. The one-eyed hunter wasted no time in following after him. The moment he stepped through the doorway, his hunter instincts kicked in, predictably almost at the same instant that the newcomer caught his scent.

There was an audible growl from the hunter and a loud hiss from the white-faced, dark-haired boy.

"Vampire!" Yagari growled, feeling something very wrong settling in his bones.

"Hunter!" Viktor hissed, having been sitting in the chair in front of the cocooned Yuki only to leapt to his feet and skyward the moment Yagari's presence registered. Perched on a corner of the ceiling, his hands easily hooked in the plaster, the blue-eyed figure glared heatedly at the one-eyed bane beneath him. Accusing eyes fixed on the Chairman and the hiss was repeated, ending in more of a growl. "Explain yourself, Chairman." He forced the words through his teeth. "I thought we had come to an understanding."

"We did." The Chairman said, quietly, eyes narrowing. "Get down from there."

"Absolutely not." Viktor snapped. "I hate hunters." His blue eyes flickered meaningfully. "Your friend is an active hunter…and you are retired?" He spat the last word out, his body tensing, the vampire aura beginning to magnify. "And you did not think this was worth mentioning at all?"

Yagari felt a wave of anger brutally slash through him as he took in the situation. A vampire backed into a corner of the ceiling in the dining room, Yuki wrapped up in a blanket and the Chairman looking older in years than he'd ever known him to be. He bristled. "Cross…"

"Viktor, get down from there—please!" The Chairman heaved a sigh. "Yagari, please have a seat. Viktor, he means no harm."

"He is armed!" Viktor retorted.

"And they are weapons that you are incapable of resisting?" There was a light teasing note to the Chairman's voice as he calmly seated himself beside Yuki and began to pour a fresh cup of tea.

The dark-haired vampire bristled visibly. "Absolutely not!" He said, haughtily. There was a rush of wind and then the blue-eyed boy was standing directly behind the Chairman and daughter. He glared balefully at the hunter. "I hate hunters." He repeated. "I really, really hate them."

Tense, awkward silence lingered for a few moments longer than necessary.

Finally, Viktor sighed, one hand went to his forehead and he turned away, massaging the bridge of his nose. "Forgive my overreaction…I will count you as an…acquaintance." There was a loud huff. "Maintain that, hunter." He glared at him again. "If I see you as an acquaintance, then that is what you are." He nodded towards the Chairman. "Friend, Human…Acquaintance." He catalogued the present individuals and then visibly relaxed as if there was no other issue to deal with.

Yagari stared. He stared for longer than was polite and because it was Cross and because he was safe, the old hunter drew out a chair from the table and dragged it back a few feet away, giving a fairly wide berth to the newly proclaimed vampire. He turned it around backwards and sat down, his eyes never breaking away from the snapping sapphire ones that held him. "It seems…you got lotta explaining to do."

The Chairman smiled thinly.

* * *

><p>Sayori shifted beneath the cool sheets in the Sun Dorms, her mind refusing to quiet in spite of her drooping eyes. She was tired. Fairly close to exhausted, it had been a very long day and she had a feeling that pulling an all-nighter for two days in a row wasn't worth the grades she was aiming for.<p>

Tossing and turning beneath the sheets, she finally rolled over to face Yuki's empty bed and check the time on the shared clock on the nightstand. A ripple of sadness passed through her as she realized how late it was—again. Granted, as a prefect, Yuki had sworn duties she could not neglect, but Yori was beginning to find that the short-haired brunette spent less and less time in her bed and more time sleeping in class.

She sighed. Loudly.

The girl could be such an air-head. _An idiotic, simple-minded, air-head_.

A fond smile crept over the ginger-haired girl's face as she kicked off the covers and swung her feet off the bed. She worried for that girl. Worried far too much for her, at times. She probably didn't even realize there was a test review coming up tomorrow, probably hadn't even thought about the upcoming ball. Yori rubbed the side of her neck, sticking her feet in the pair of slippers on the rug and shuffling the few steps across the room to stand before Yuki's empty bed.

Kicking of the slippers, she drew back the neatly folded blanket and sheets, climbing in, wriggling down to a comfortable position. Nestling her head on the familiarly scented pillow, Yori silently breathed in the scent she could never grow tired of. Drawing the covers up to her chin, she lay on her back, staring up at the darkened ceiling.

The memories of lying awake, sharing silly conversations, laughing and giggling in the night hours were now faint, fading memories that seemed to haunt more than comfort on nights like these. She tried to close her eyes, tried to wait for sleep to come, tried to pretend that it didn't hurt to lie in the bed of the girl she wanted more than a friend.

Tried.

Tried and failed.

A warm trickle of wetness slipped down her cheek and Yori turned her face into the pillow. It wouldn't be the first time she'd cried herself to sleep. Perhaps it was a better way of handling the stress, to give in to a singular moment of weakness. Some things simply weren't meant to be. This seemed to be one of them.

* * *

><p>When the Night Class filed back to their dorms, Takuma found himself heading down the hallway leading to Kaname's room. He hadn't liked the state in which their pureblood leader had returned. Even though the brunette had masked it well, Takuma had sensed everything else that the proud vampire hadn't said. Years of friendship between them allowed as much.<p>

He stopped several feet away from the bedroom door. Seiren was sitting on the floor in front of Kaname's doorway, cross-legged, her head bent over a thick textbook as she scribbled notes in a small notebook, apparently studying. The blond vampire blinked in surprise. He had noticed—belatedly—that Seiren had left the Night Class at one point, but he hadn't seen when or how.

Now that he had approached the pureblood's room, he realized it wasn't really that much of a surprise at all. If Kaname was absent, then Seiren would doubtless be somewhere around him. The ash-haired girl didn't even pause in her methodical note-taking when he stood directly in front of her.

"Is Kaname-sama in?" He asked, politely.

There was no answer.

"I brought his homework." Takuma shifted the sheaf of papers in his arm.

Seiren's hand popped up, open, expectant.

He swallowed. Sometimes he did wonder if the pureblood even read the actual curriculum assigned.

The hand remained.

Sliding the stack out from his own papers, Takuma handed it over with a rueful smile. He realized it probably didn't even matter if it Seiren really doing the work or Kaname. No one would realistically be able to tell the difference.

Seiren accepted it with a nod and set the bundle down beside her to the left. She then returned to the textbook in her lap and the small notebook in the corner, her eyes skimming rapidly over the page and her hand making notes.

For a moment, he stood there and then the dismissal registered. With this new piece of the puzzle in mind, Takuma backed away a few steps before turning around and retreating down the hallway. He was almost to the stairs when Serien's soft voice reached his sensitive ears.

"Kaname-sama is resting. I shall mention you dropped these off."

He smiled. "Thank you, Seiren."

Continuing on down the hallway to his own room, he turned the recent night's happenings over in his head. He didn't have to be a pureblood to know that something was off. The very fact that Toga Yagari had shown up instead of the usual two Cross prefects had been the confirmation that something was amiss.

As much as Kiryu would miss his nightly assignment, he never failed to show up at some point or another. Takuma hadn't caught sight nor scent of him since day had ended and night had come. He didn't like what that hinted at. Most times when the sour-faced silver-haired hunter was sent on a mission, Kaname had word of it first, dispatching him and Shiki to keep things quiet.

He sighed, rubbing his eyes lightly as he shuffled to a stop before his bedroom door. The sounds of something banging around inside caught his ears. He hid a smile. He had a pretty good guess exactly what waited for him on the other side of the wall. More muffled bangings and mutterings drew a smile to the green-eyed vampire's face.

Oh, this was definitely a welcome end to his day.

* * *

><p>Zero roused himself to the land of the living when daylight began to stream through the trees in beautiful, unobstructed paths. He groaned, shifting gingerly in the dew covered ground, aware that sleeping on the ground for the night was not the most comfortable of options. Moving slowly and deliberately, he flexed his muscles and limbs in turn, rolling up to sit with some effort.<p>

The night had drained him in more ways than he cared to think about and for once in his life that he could recall, he wasn't plagued by dreams involving a certain, short-haired brunette. Drawing his knees up towards his chest, he braced his arms on his knees, resting his head on his arms to catch his bearings.

Confusion settled over him as he recounted everything that had happened since the intense pains and the urge to flee. Now that the pains were no longer present and his brain not burdened from a lack of sleep, he was beginning to get a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. The kind of feeling that meant that something had either gone horribly wrong—or was about to.

Surging upwards to his feet, a sudden rush of vertigo left him clawing at the nearest tree for purchase, to fight the urge to sink back to his knees on the wet grass. Several minutes later, he breathed in soft gasps, willing his body to obey him and function the way it had managed for so long. His mouth was dry, his stomach was empty and he was beginning to feel very, very ticked off.

An ache in the back of his throat reminded him of another kind of thirst that he stubbornly refused to acknowledge.

Grim determination rippled through him as he took a few wobbly steps forward, relieved when his body seemed to remember how to function on its own. He smirked, taking a few careful whiffs of mid-morning air. Judging from the sun's position in the sky, he was fairly certain he had missed breakfast and would probably be more in time for lunch.

Various scents filtered through his nose as he sorted them through his mind, able to determine the blind path he'd run just hours ago. Turning his footsteps in that direction, he began to walk. His stomach rumbled and he scowled in answer. Pressing onwards, Zero walked until his anger began to morph into annoyance.

He'd been traveling for quite some time already and he had yet to know exactly where in the woods he was—even though he could have sworn he knew nearly every inch of the woods. His stomach rumbled again, an unwanted reminder of things that he didn't want to think about. Absently he rubbed his left arm, energetically scratching it as the urge grew.

In a fit of temper, he yanked the jacket sleeve upwards only to tangle it with the dress shirt. A few frustrating moments later, he'd stripped the white shirt from his body and could now see the source of his frustrations. From shoulder to wrist, the most vivid, detailed tattoo of a silver-tipped, aqua-blue ribbon swirled and criss-crossed all over to end in frayed strands that seemed to bleed off at his wrist.

_Bleed off. _

_Blood. _

_Blue. Red._

_Thirsty. _

Zero coughed and sneezed.

That was _so_ not the sort of train of thought that he needed.

_Thirsty. So terribly thirsty. _

His throat was burning, an ache steadily growing worse as he realized one of two things. One, he was thirsty, two, there wasn't any actual blood source nearby, three, he was thirsty, four, the academy was much further away than he realized and five, he was _still_ thirsty.

Blueness streaked before his eyes again and then red.

The inner battle began.

He struggled and won, because Zero hadn't spent four years fighting his vampire side for nothing. He hadn't. He'd grown stronger in ways that let him hold onto the unraveling edges of his humanity, even if only for a few precious moments longer. He could do this. He always did this. It wasn't such a big deal. His hands scrabbled at his throat for a moment and he swallowed, slowly. He could do this, he knew how to do this.

But his body was pulling out a whole new kind of torture.

He could always remember his first bite, into the person he had cared for the most, the person he had always swore he would never do that to. Yuki. Zero rubbed his throat, lightly tracing the pattern of the tattoo on his neck. On days like today, he could swear that he hated her. Hated her for every ounce of kindness she'd ever shown and every air-headed moment he'd ever witnessed. Yes, in moments like now Zero knew that his hate for her easily outweighed any tender feelings of love. Love wasn't meant to be a torture device, it wasn't supposed to be the weapon used to kill him—yet somehow, it always seemed to turn in that direction. No matter what he did, she wouldn't look at him.

A spike of pain shot through him and his eyes grew wide as he forcibly caught his left hand with his right to drag it away from the tattoo. Apparently the ink on his left arm didn't agree with the ink on his neck.

Zero swallowed hard. His life was getting really stupid and complicated in less than 24 hours. He didn't like it at all.

His arm burned fiercely and he bent down, snatching up the hastily shed clothes and tucking it under the tattooed arm, using it to keep the arm just a bit away from his body. It took more effort than he cared for, forcing himself to work without thinking of the very things his body was screaming for. But the rumbling in his stomach settled into a heavy weight that silenced the need for physical food as the young hunter realized something.

He was always doing this.

Always.

His jaw slowly cranked into the locked position as he stomped through the woods, beginning to seriously consider leaping to vampire speed to blur in whichever direction his nose was telling him.

It was going to take a few minutes longer before he knew he could no longer trust his senses, at least, not his nose for the scent of home, it would hone in on something different entirely. Oh this was bad. This was very bad.

He was seeing red.

Way too much red.

He could taste it.

The bitter, spiced taste of Yuki's blood, sliding down his throat, surging through his veins. Always bitter, always flat, never the blessed delicacy he wished it was. But it had helped in some moments, helped just enough so he could force his mind to fight the parasitic nature within him.

A low moan strangled through his throat and Zero blurred into Vampire Speed as he felt his body begin to betray him. He was seeing streams of images, memories and more memories. The first time he caught the scent of her neck, the first time he fantasized about sinking his fangs into the creamy, ivory skin, the first time he actually did it.

The red persisted.

It was turning into a strange, blue-red to purple tinge.

Instead of Yuki's slender neck, he was seeing something better, something much nicer, something paler, stronger…more sensual, seemed to overlay that image. Something like Kaname. Instead of Yuki's short crop of stick straight, light brown hair, he saw Kaname's delectable rich, chocolate curls that lay on his pale cheeks and curved up around the beautiful curve of his neck.

Curves.

So many delicious curves.

Such invitation.

Such perfection.

Such rich, thick, sweet blood.

Such promise.

It should be his.

It shouldn't be hers.

It was his.

Zero felt his left arm throbbing and burning, his mind threatening to fade black. The sudden surge of possessiveness had scared him. He had no right to Kuran, none, and the manipulative pureblood definitely would never allow himself to be degraded to the point where an ex-human could drink his blood.

A whimper fought through his lips and Zero felt his eyes burn with tears that wouldn't come. He clenched his teeth tighter together and pressed forward.

_No. I won't. I won't do this. I won't give in. NEVER! _

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ack! Poor Zero. *sniffle* Don't worry-he won't be so tortured for long. ~_^**_ (And I'm sorry Yuki is an idiot. Hopefully when Yori grabs ahold of her, she'll straighten out some :P ) _**Also-reader vote on this please, would you like to know what/who is behind the door when Takuma opens it? ****Enough votes means I might write that missing scene and post it (early again, le gasp!_) _as a holiday treat. _Thank you for reading! _**_  
><em>


	5. Chapter 5: Bonus : Behind The Door

**A/N: Thank you all very much for the reviews/suggestions/comments/and votes! Thanks to the votes, I'm uploading this "bonus chapter" for the holiday(July 4th, as I'll be up to my ears in pizza and fireworks!). It's a touch of citrus (my unofficial warm-up before starting with Zero and Kaname) and it covers what happened when Takuma opened his bedroom door. :P The actual plotline/story stuff is a little snippet at the bottom and the KanamexZero action is coming soon-I'm about two-thirds of the way through writing their first 'moment'. Teehee. *happy* Enjoy the read!**

**Oh and a quicky note to Atheist1: Viktor was sealed into a magicked book. He is a supernatural creature (Like Kaname is-as a pureblooded vampire) and that nature allowed him to be sealed in the first place. His master/mistress sealed him into the book until they awoke. He woke at the same time Yuki had the brilliant idea to move The Book from Zero's chest. :P It was his power/magic as a blueblood that made the spell come to life and bind Zero and Kaname. Hope that makes some sense! ^_^**

**To the rest of my VERY wonderful reviewers, thanks for reading and reviewing! *hands out cookies* I'd gladly ramble on, but I know you'd rather be reading... *^_^***

* * *

><p>Takuma turned the knob of the bedroom door and silently slipped inside. From the muffled rantings and ravings going on inside, he had a feeling his lover wouldn't even notice his entrance. Standing inside the room, the green-eyed blond removed his shoes and tucked them in the usual corner beside the door. A quick check showed that his usual roommate, Shiki, was nowhere in sight. That was nice. He turned the lock, having no other intentions of leaving the room until the following night. Shiki could figure something else out—the locked door was their usual signal. He had hoped—briefly—that his day might end on a lighter note and currently, that possibility seemed highly probable.<p>

A bushy head of wild, blond curls popped up from the wardrobe closet, of which, several handfuls of clothes had just come flying out and onto the floor. Wide, bright blue eyes completed the face, now tinged red with the touch of angry effort as Aido whirled around to glare at the hand that hovered just above his shoulder. "Don't!" He said, warningly. "I don't wanna hear it, Ichijo." He returned to the task at hand, emptying the contents of the ornate, wooden wardrobe.

Takuma retracted the hand, taking a step backwards—that had effectively placed a damper on the tender tendrils of happiness he'd been holding.s He could make a few educated guesses at what was bothering the fiery blond, but knowing the boy as he did, he opted to remain silent. Anything he did say at this point would no doubt bring about a horrible tirade as a spring board for one of the blond's tantrums. Takuma didn't feel like dealing with that now. Correction, he didn't want to deal with that now, it would mean his day was not going to end in the way he'd hoped.

So he backtracked a few steps and made his way to the nightstand where he poured himself a glass of water and tossed in a few blood tablets, swirling the glass lightly to watch the clear liquid turn crimson. It was part of his nightly routine. He downed the glass and poured another draught of fresh water, leaving it ready for later in case he felt like it. Casting a glance towards the bathroom, he decided on a shower, starting towards the door and pausing to root through the newly created pile of clothes for his bathrobe and a towel. It was always best to ignore Aido whenever he was in a mood like this—ignore him and get as far away as possible—in this case, the bathroom.

Moving away from the furious vampire, he angled towards the bathroom in hopes of a nice shower. The door clicked shut behind him and the lights clicked on as Takuma shed his Night Class uniform with a breath of relief. He turned the taps to lukewarm and stepped inside the shower, beginning to relax his body.

By the time he'd finished, the bathroom was steamy and comfortably warm. Takuma wrapped a thick fluffy towel around his waist, running his fingers through his hair to smooth it down into the usual style. He wondered how long it would take to find his usual pajamas, given that Aido's usual destructive desires usually led to a trampled, if not sometimes, ruined wardrobe. Technically, it was a good sign, meaning the blue-eyed porcupine had taken the lesser of two evils, but it usually resulted in the smallest of headaches for the green-eyed blond.

Takuma sighed, stepping out into the sudden coolness of the bedroom. He eyed the mound of trampled clothes on the floor and his gaze methodically swept the room, taking in the fact that Shiki was not there and Aido had remained. He supposed that was good. Rooting through the rumpled collection of slacks, polo shirts and sweaters, Takuma finally found the soft, baby-blue plaid pajamas that were his favorite. He tossed it over his shoulder to the bed and moved to the corner dresser to retrieve a pair of boxers.

In one of their long-standing agreements, Aido had been sworn to never touch his dresser in one of his temper tantrums. He was welcome to trash the rest of the wardrobe, but never, ever, touch the dresser. At that, Takuma almost smiled as he rooted through the top drawer to pull out a pair of fresh boxers and socks. He always wore socks to bed.

Aido sat on the bed, arms-crossed, lips curled in a deliberate pout. The earlier exertion in throwing things about had helped some but not much. He hadn't really cared for wrecking his lover's neatly organized half of the dorm, though it had helped to curb his temper some, but he cared far more about said actual lover who had somehow managed to ignore him in favor of a shower.

The pouting blond shifted unhappily from his perch on the edge of the bed. He watched his lover root through the mess he'd made and find exactly what he'd been looking for. A favored pair of soft, plaid pajamas that was tossed on the bed beside him. It was a trait that was one-hundred percent the green-eyed vampire. Aido's eyes narrowed. He didn't like that suggestion at all. Calmness and pajamas meant Takuma was going to bed—without having said a single word—or sparing him a second glance. With fluid, elegant movements, Takuma moved from the pile of clothes towards the untouched dresser and Aido noted a distinct lack of the usual cheerfulness he'd come to expect from the older vampire.

Something was bothering him. He was moving about in his usual way, but the usual manner to accompany it was sorely lacking. Aido's pout turned to a scowl as he fleetingly recalled the blond's absent-minded expression throughout their classes and one-word answers to the occasional question. The gentle vampire would not say a word on his own behalf unless it was very, very necessary. Apparently, it wasn't. "Takuma?" He ventured, sliding off the bed. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes." Takuma fished out a clean pair of boxers and a pair of socks.

Aido wrinkled his nose, feeling his temper beginning to spark again. It was a lie and they both knew it. "Takuma…"

"Not tonight, Aido." The weary vampire turned to face him, saddened green eyes holding a haunting light rather than teasing one. "Don't you have homework to do? You shouldn't put it off until the last minute you know."

"Screw the homework." Aido retorted, ignoring the attempt to change the subject. "I always do it in class anyway."

"Try being responsible for a change, it wouldn't hurt."

"Responsible? Like you?" He shot back.

"It wouldn't hurt."

"Should I be more polite too?"

"No, I wouldn't want you to strain yourself."

"Takuma-!"

"What? It would do no one any good if you were to-never mind."

The fuming blond gaped at him for a moment then folded his arms and looked away, he hadn't expected that sort of response from older vampire. Takuma had his moments, but usually when he did, it was in defense of someone else—not about a handful of snippy remarks over nothing. Aido scowled, feeling the expression settling on his face. This was not the way he'd envisioned the night starting out when he'd made the decision to visit. "Polite like you?" He repeated, unable to help himself. He'd had a fairly lousy day without any help and it wasn't improving in the least. "If you don't want me here, then why can't you just tell me to get out!"

"The door has been right over there and I have not stopped you from coming or going." Takuma had reached the bed and was now standing motionless before it, his back rigid, shoulders taut.

"Sure." Aido snapped. "Which is why you turned the lock. I'm not stupid! You're always too perfect and polite to say something whenever it concerns you. You think I don't notice when you do things like that!" He huffed. "Shiki already came and left, by the way." He said, bitingly, his head turned to face the wall with some difficulty, he'd much rather let his eyes linger on the perfect form before him.

"I never said you were stupid." There was another quiet sigh. "Aido, I really have no desire to debate the finer points of my personality with-"

The drolling sentence was interrupted by Aido's lips pressing over Takuma's with slow, deliberate meaning, having lurched forward and caught the older vampire's chin, turning his face towards him. His arms curved up around the freshly-showered body, one holding the hand holding up the towel and another snaking up towards a pale, pink nipple. The blue-eyed blond smirked when he pulled away to see his lover blinking owlishly in momentary surprise. "I wasn't picking a fight." He kissed him again, lingering a moment longer in apology. This was much better than arguing—and the expression on Takuma's face had easily melted all traces of annoyance. "I'm just…it…yeah." He turned the green-eyed blond around for better access, pressing him close and attempting to deepen the kiss, trailing his tongue lightly on the tip of Takuma's lower lip, silently begging for entrance.

Takuma twisted faintly, his lips remaining stubbornly pressed together as both hands came upwards to push away. The towel between them to fell to the floor and a rosy blush stained both ivory cheeks as he bent down only to have Aido's hands catch his wrists and push him back towards the bed.

"Nah…leave it." Wicked blue eyes trailed possessively over the nude body before him. "It was in the way."

The redness grew more pronounced as Takuma half-heartedly struggled in his young lover's grasp, his body already beginning to respond to the familiar touches and caresses. "Aido, I really don't feel like-"

Aido hooked one foot behind Takuma and gave it a little jerk. It was just the momentum he needed to send the green-eyed beauty tumbling to the bed with a soft gasp of surprise. A series of slow, warm kisses did the trick in keeping the older vampire occupied as Aido maneuvered him into position before dipping his head down between the creamy thighs to devote his attention to one particular portion of his anatomy.

A quiet hiss came from that and Takuma squirmed deliciously as Aido's curly head bobbed between his legs, mouthing his shaft in all eager earnestness, his sweet attentions sending streaks of fire through the older vampire's body. He was swiftly forgetting his earlier mood and worries as the simple heat of passion overtook him. He rarely let Aido have his way when it came to this, but today, the blue-eyed idol was being almost gentle in his ministrations. One particular swirl of the tongue over his sensitive head brought his body arching up, his hands and feet scrabbling amongst the covers. "A-aido." He gasped out.

The warm cavern suckled him with increased intensity before finally pulling away with a devious grin on the younger vampire's face. "Didja say something, Takuma?"

The older boy glared at him, the expression not having quite the effect he wanted with his flushed body and soft pants accenting the wordless accusation.

"Well?" Aido teased, careful to keep hold of Takuma's wrists, hovering over the desirable body beneath him.

Takuma turned his head to the side, the flush becoming more pronounced. He muttered something beneath his breath and Aido had to strain to hear it.

He chuckled and in one swift movement, pinned Takuma's wrists together and iced them to the ornate, metal headboard. His earlier funk was forgotten now that his own body was on fire and begging for attention. His little surprise was well-planned in that moment, because in spite of the struggles Takuma was making, he knew fully well the bonds would not break—not fast enough anyway.

With a wink, Aido began his striptease, standing at the foot of the bed. He shrugged out of the jacket and ran his fingers deliberately over his chest, undoing the buttons to the matching vest. He took his time with the tie and then the shirt and lastly the pants and boxers, shimmying as he slid them down his hips. With each provocative moan and twist, he saw the lustful green-eyes beginning to return to their original glow. The squirming body stilled, growing even harder if the pointing erection was any indication.

Completely bare, Aido climbed onto the bed and settled himself comfortably over Takuma's thighs, rubbing their lengths together and gauging the reaction from his lover. The pleasured gasp and groan was quite satisfying and Aido repeated the movements, smirking when the sounds accompanied it. His skilled fingers wrapped possessively around the hardened shaft, gliding over it in smooth, sure strokes.

In the midst of his attentions, Aido actually took the time to think. It bothered him that something had worried the constantly cheerful dork and that whatever it was, the dork hadn't felt it necessary to share. Any thoughts he might have had over that were squashed when he'd seen the despondent look on his lover's face. In that moment, his own issues had grown significantly smaller and his only intent was to bring the usual smile back to the pale face.

"A-aido." Takuma moaned. "Quit teasing."

"Not as much fun when you're on that end of it, now is it?" Aido retorted, but there was nothing but tenderness in his voice, Takuma could be a horrible tease when their positions were reversed, but that was only because he liked to hear him beg—as much as Aido loved to beg for it. Aido reached across the bed to the top drawer of the nightstand where he usually kept the lube. Squeezing out a generous amount on his fingers, he rubbed them together then rose up just enough to give his lover a good view. Reaching behind him with one hand, he began the usual preparations.

Takuma's wide eyes grew heated with desire as he watched the lithe figure prepping and stretching himself for him. It was sexy beyond belief to see the slender white fingers slipping in and out of that tight space he loved so much, the curly head thrown back, the tempting expanse of pale throat, neck and shoulders glistening in the soft glow of the lamp on the nightstand. It took more effort than he'd thought to hold back from the sweet torture plaguing him just out of reach—he really wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer.

Aido didn't make him wait.

As soon as he'd satisfied himself with the result, he flashed another wicked grin before sliding up to position Takuma's length between his plump cheeks. In one swift, fluid movement, he sheathed himself completely. A slight wince rippled through him, a tiny twinge of pain, but it had been worth it to see the expression on his lover's face.

The choked cry of pleasure finally left the vampire's lips and Aido gave himself a moment before he began to rock his hips in slow, deliberate movements. That choice quickly flew out the window when Takuma began to meet his leisurely rolls with short, powerful thrusts. "Aww…ahhh." He moaned, unable to hold that one back. That was good.

That was _really_ good.

He knew the few minutes of lording over his lover would end sooner than naught. He was taking it at his own pace right now, but the moment the green-eyed vampire was freed, he'd be solely at his lover's mercy. Takuma rarely ever let him take charge and even with his hands iced to the headboard, he was still calling the shots. Round two was sure to be something to remember—if he'd survive it. Aido felt himself growing harder at that thought and a whimper left his lips.

That was all the incentive Takuma needed and with a gentle burst of energy, he dissolved the ice around his wrists and rocked upwards, clutching the smaller body to him, one hand slipping between to nurse Aido's neglected member. It was only a matter of minutes before they both reached the familiar peak and with a cry, Aido came, spilling himself on their stomachs and Takuma's hand. A half-second later, Takuma shuddered and he climaxed within his lover, holding him tight and close, riding out the last waves of pleasure together.

A soft chuckle came from Takuma's lips as he cradled the now limp body still coupled to him. He pressed a kiss to the sweat-dampened brow and began to trace soft circles along Aido's cold shoulders. "Thank you." He whispered, understanding what his partner had done—and hadn't said. It was appreciated it.

It had cost him a touch of his pride, but the result was worth it, Aido thought, hazily, enjoying the feel of the secure, gentle arms holding him close. This was what he had originally sought in the first place—the familiar warmth he had grown accustomed to. Lazily, he pressed a kiss to the nearest expanse of soft skin, nibbling his way up from a bare shoulder to nuzzling Takuma's neck.

The older boy gave a sigh, one hand loosening from around his lover's waist to reach upwards and curl through the wild hair. "No, Aido." He said, gently, firmly.

"Taki!" Aido whined, seeing red flicker before his eyes and then a pout appearing on his delectable, peach-tinted lips. He kissed the side of his lover's neck, then licked the column from ear to shoulder, layering kisses along the wet trail. "Please."

The hand in his hair tightened as Takuma rolled his head to the side, providing a bit of an obstacle and effectively interrupting the lovely attentions to his neck. "No, Hana." He returned the kisses with softer movements, trailing them from the blond's chin to the base of his ear. "There's a glass of water over there and tablets right next to it."

The pout grew more pronounced. "I don't want tablets, Taki." He mumbled. "I want you!" Aido grimaced as his fangs began to throb, already aroused from their first round of lovemaking.

Takuma's response was a leisurely roll of his hips, causing a gasp from the boy atop him and a pleasing shiver that wracked the slender, still sensitive body in his arms. "You can have me anytime." He whispered, huskily—warm breath tickling the ear so close to him.

Aido bit back a moan as the small thrust was repeated in quick succession, effectively distracting him and rousing his body to a new height of sensitivity. "Taki…" The pet name came out as a whimper.

"Shhh!" Takuma's arms loosened, sliding down to take hold of Aido's hips. "I want all of you." He whispered, playfully trailing his fingers up and down the boy's sides. It made the limp figure jerk upright, leaning back with a soft cry, blue eyes meeting green. Takuma grinned as Aido's hands gripped his shoulders for support, he'd have to make it even for the ice handcuffs to the headboard.

It was quick work for round two.

With a gasping cry, Aido screamed softly into the pillow beneath Takuma's head, his body shuddering violently as the waves of pleasure consumed him entirely. For a moment, he was blissfully suspended in nothing more than absolutely wonderness before his mind dizzily returned him to the present.

Takuma pressed a kiss to the side of his head, his hands lazily trailing up and down the sweaty body half-on, half-off him. "That enough or would you like more?"

Aido's response was a nearly strangling arm around his neck.

The green-eyed vampire chuckled. "That wasn't payback." He murmured, pulling the younger boy close.

A soft moan answered him. "Ow…then what was that?"

"Practice. Stress relief."

Aido muttered something unintelligible.

There was another soft laugh. "Don't worry, I won't forget." He shifted, curving his arms more deliberately around the boy.

Panting, Aido snuggled into the embrace offered once more, with a slight wince as his lover pulled out of him. He didn't mind going again, but his mind was more on blood and less on sex. Somehow, the two always seemed to blend together in his opinion. The thought of a possible future romp to make up for his earlier dominance only enhanced the anticipation and thus his mind shifted gears from sex to the next pleasurable thing—his lover's blood.

Takuma ruffled his hair and Aido leaned into the touch, enjoying the feel of the warm hand traveling through his thick curls. It was always strangely soothing and in this moment, it cleared his head some.

They sat in silence, contented, sated.

Takuma's body slowly relaxed, the final barriers of his tension melting away, a testament to his own self-control and the final moment of truth. He was somewhere safe and comfortable—it was alright to let someone else see past his usual mask. He shifted to hold his younger lover closer. Aido yawned, nestling his head in the crook of his neck, nuzzling the neck again, an unspoken plea. Takuma caught his ear between his thumb and forefinger, pinching gently. "No, Hana." He repeated, the same gentle, firm tone."

Aido pulled away to look at him and the blue-eyes shimmered before he ducked his head back down and quickly sucked softly on a spot along that tempting neck. Takuma stiffened, his arms tightening deliberately around the other boy as Aido, licked the spot he'd sucked and teased it lightly with his fangs, knowing the response it brought to his generally expressive lover. "Please, Taki." He whispered, pressing closer. "You know I can't stand those tablets."

"You're too spoiled." Takuma retorted. "The glass is right there—so are the tablets." His arms fell to his sides, releasing the cool body. "Go."

"Don't wanna." Aido went back to the business of kissing and nipping at his lover's neck.

"Hana."

"Taki."

"_Hana_!"

"You know I hate it."

"Is that why you had to sample Yuki's blood?"

Aido stiffened, then his head rolled forward to rest on Takuma's shoulder. "You heard." He said, softly. That was one bit of business he had wished would never reach the gentle, green-eyed vampire. Especially when he thought they were having a good moment like this. "Kain?" He ventured, mentally making a note to punish his cousin at the first available chance.

"Kaname."

Aido gulped, feeling a blush beginning to start. It was his own fault for how that event had turned out, but in all honesty he hadn't expected to really get as far as he had and then of course, once he'd started. A sharp smack was delivered to his bare backside, earning a yelp of surprise and a cute scowl.

"How did it taste?" Takuma asked, deviously, his green-eyes growing darker. "As good as mine?"

The blue-eyed blond gulped. He knew that look. He knew that tone. It wasn't good. "N-no…you always…" He faltered as Takuma caught his chin with one hand and cut him off with a kiss.

"I always what?" He taunted.

Another kiss. A muffled reply. Aido whimpered again, unable to help himself. Takuma was ticked off—he knew that much. His body trembled and a violent shiver ran through him. His control was slipping wearing thin, he'd let himself slip again in a way that wasn't safe. The red flickered on and off, flickering back to stay at last and it was visible in his eyes as a concerned Takuma pulled away.

"Hanabusa." He said sternly. "Haven't I told you not to let yourself get to this point?" He sighed, running a hand through his own hair. "No wonder you were doing _that_." He nodded towards the messy bedroom floor. "Which you _will_ be cleaning up, by the way."

Aido hung his head, one hand reaching up to curl around Takuma's neck. He'd guessed it wouldn't take the green-eyed beauty too long to figure out what was going on. At least he'd gotten a bit of loving out of the deal though. A faint blush touched his cheeks and he began to reluctantly pull away from the warmth beside him.

Takuma perked an eyebrow in response, catching him with a well-placed arm around the waist and drawing him back. "I don't think so, love." He smirked, knowing fully well that the blue-eyed innocence was not above sneaking away from a comfortable bed and partner to avoid taking the one thing he needed at the moment. "Not with that look on your face."

Aido squirmed, knowing that tone all-too-well and realizing that he wasn't going to get out of this one.

A handful of blood tablets were placed in the glass of water and Takuma swirled it around before offering it, pressing the cool glass to the stubborn lips. "Come on, drink up."

The blond pressed his lips tightly together. The chalky substance was alright for a substitute—but it was just that—a substitute. They hadn't come out with any new taste upgrades for the nasty things. He hated them—even if it had been partially his brainchild to bring them into existence. Takuma had always been clever in tricking him into drinking them.

"I know you're thirsty." Takuma settled him comfortably between his legs, the air changing subtly around them to reveal his own vampire aura—a gradual change into something more sensually seductive. "Drink…" The green eyes seemed to shimmer and sparkle, the blond hair seeming to sit just the right way, the pale skin virtually radiant. Aido swallowed hard. Takuma rarely called up his vampire aura, but when he did, it was a beautiful thing.

The lovely picture was interrupted by one particularly embarrassing memory that rippled through Aido's head and he squeezed his eyes shut, grabbing the glass and gulping down the contents. He didn't want that to happen again and he wouldn't put it past his lover to do it again. He gagged, emptying it and turned away, coughing and wiping his mouth with one hand.

Takuma patted his back gently, taking the cup and setting it on the nightstand. He kissed the blond's forehead. "That bad?"

Aido glared at him, jerking away and pulling himself free of the tangle of arms and legs. He settled down on the bed with a huff, turning his back to his lover, the covers already pulled up to his ears. Takuma chuckled, reaching over him to reach the lamp and turning it off, plunging the dorm room into comfortable darkness.

Silence settled over them for a long moment.

More silence came along and settled.

"Takum…Taki?" Aido whispered, faintly. The chuckle came again and Takuma's strong arms wrapped around him as Aido reached for them. He let himself be held and snuggled close, unable to stay away. He wanted desperately to be inside those arms and even closer to that precious warmth.

"Sleep well, Hana."

Aido tentatively nuzzled his neck—one last time, pressing a kiss to the soft throat and then waiting.

There was a soft, quiet sigh and Takuma's hand slid up from beneath the sheets to curl into his hair, tipping his head forward. "Just a little." He murmured. "To help you sleep."

Aido needed no further encouragement to sink his fangs into the willing neck. He fairly hummed with contentment when the tasty, delicious ribbons of blood filled his mouth and slid down his throat in that oh-so-satisfying way. It washed away the horrible taste of the chalky tablets and it made his entire body feel as if it were coming to life all over again. He heard Takuma chuckle again as he wriggled closer and wrapped his arms around the one thing in his world that was truly his.

* * *

><p>Kaname woke with a pounding headache and an all-too-familiar ache in his chest, accompanied by a burning in his throat. The kind of ache and burn he hadn't felt in quite some time. Rolling out of the bed, he scrabbled for the pitcher of water and ever-present, thin-stemmed wineglass that graced his nightstand. Emptying several blood tablets into the clear liquid, he swirled it rapidly and downed it in several large gulps, repeating the action nearly three times over.<p>

The ache and burn persisted.

Hands went to his throbbing head and Kaname forced himself to move beyond it again. It wasn't as bad this time around, in fact, it was much easier. He hurriedly gulped the red substitute and then squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on his physical faculties and urging his body to take what it needed—faster. He truly had not felt that degree of thirst in years. He'd always been careful at taking the tablets—sometimes even more than he really needed to. This sudden need had come from nowhere, it seemed.

With his mental aid and the help of the blood tablets, the ache and burn shifted to a dulled, muffled alert in the back of his mind and he stumbled to the shower, intent on washing the confusion away.

Thankfully, the cold streams of water were stimulative enough to bring the pureblood around and he noted, wryly, that it was the middle of the day—when his usual nap would be occurring. With a sigh, he stepped out of the shower and went through the motions of drying off, toweling his hair and setting it with the usual products that lined the bathroom sink. Selecting a neatly pressed outfit from his closet, he chose a simple, dark silk shirt and matching slacks.

In a matter of moments, he was dressed and nursing another glass of blood tablets. Shaking the nearly empty container, his mouth puckered into a frown and he spoke, softly, over his shoulder. "Seiren?"

The ash-haired girl appeared almost instantly behind him. "Kaname-sama?" She cradled an armful of paper in one hand, taking the moment to lay it on the desk by the window to the corner with his current documents.

He almost smiled, but gave a curt nod instead. Judging from the print on the paper, he could guess it was homework for the classes he'd skipped. Seiren stood at attention once more, awaiting his orders. "A refill, please." He tossed her the empty container and caught the one she threw him in return. He knew it was her spare container and that he wouldn't need it. She'd have his own back in a matter of minutes, if he was still around. His body was swiftly catching up the gears turning in his head and Kaname was already out of his room and down the hall towards Takuma's.

He'd meant to speak to his friend earlier, but the pain and the confusion had simply been too much. Now, he was in much better control and the only present annoyance was the faint itching of his left arm, an absent-minded motion that he rubbed as he found himself standing in front of the closed room door. The hallways of the Moon Dorms were empty as they should be and completely shrouded in darkness and shadows befitting their kind. It lent a vaguely soothing atmosphere to the building and Kaname felt himself relaxing as control returned to him in the way he was used to.

For a moment, he hovered outside of Takuma's room, waiting for the briefest of moments while his mind formulated the conversation he was about to have. He could have entered, there was no real reason to knock, but it was Takuma, so he did.

There was no immediate answer and he repeated the gesture, out of politeness, then turned the knob, knowing his friend would never refuse him if he were in. Kaname entered the room and bit back a smile. It took him a moment to catch hold of the emotion and effectively quell it, along with the traditional reaction to the lingering scent of blood in the air. The bedroom was obviously charmed to keep such scents confined within and something about knowing that made the pureblood smile after all as he took in the sight before him to his left.

An exhausted Hanabusa Aido was curled up in the arms of a happy, sleeping and equally sated Takuma Ichijo. Light strands of blond mingled with dark curls of the same golden sheen, the bedsheets tangled and rumpled around their bare forms. They slept peacefully and carelessly, it seemed, in each other's arms, the occasional mark of passion fading away into their pale creamy skin as vampire healing caught up with vampire markings. Takuma's generally smiling face had evened out into a peaceful look of contentment, his cheek resting on Aido's mop of wild curls. Aido's expressive face was nestled comfortably in the hollow of his lover's neck, the usual wrinkle on his forehead smoothed away, his skinny arms curving up and around Takuma's slender waist, pressing himself closer to the warmth holding him.

Idol-sempai was cuddling.

The scene brought an inkling of happiness to him and that was a welcome, safe ground at the moment. Kaname silently exited the room and stood outside the door in the hallway once more. He leaned against the wall beside the doorframe and gently expanded his aura, waiting.

It didn't take long.

He heard Aido wake first, muttering a string of unintelligible words and then frantically trying to rouse the sleeping giant holding him captive. In the moments between coherency and duty, Kaname found himself swallowing another smile and a chuckle. Aido was panicking—predictably—and quite possibly, adorably as well, by Takuma's standards. In a matter of minutes, after a hasty, whispered conversation, both noble vampires were scrambling to find their respective uniforms and underwear.

A slightly rumpled Takuma emerged first, running a hand through tousled hair, the sleep still sticking to his eyes. "Kaname…" He murmured, with a weary tilt of his head. "Is something the matter?" The knot on his silken dressing robe was haphazard and half-done, his feet bare instead of slippered.

"A word." Kaname murmured, inclining his head down the hallway.

Takuma shot him a grateful look, falling in step beside him.

Kaname pretended he didn't see the hyper, blue-eyed blond that snuck out of the bedroom the moment his back was turned.

"Nice sleep?" He inquired.

Takuma blushed a deep, royal flush of red. He coughed into a closed fist and looked pointedly at the wall, pretending he hadn't heard a thing.

Kaname let it go. Takuma was as private a vampire as he was and he'd respect that in his friend. He had nothing against the relationship between them, only finding it amusing at the way they attempted to keep it under wraps. He suspected the others knew, but wouldn't say anything and knowing Aido, the blustering idiot was probably operating on the thought that no one knew at all.

The pureblood almost chuckled out loud that time, but Takuma's sideways look brought him back from his musings. "I seem to remember a certain collection of historical reports in your grandfather's library." He began, holding open the door to his bedroom-slash-unofficial office. "I thought I might ask you to borrow them for a bit-"

"Which ones? I'd be happy to have them sent up from the main estate." Takuma was immediately wide awake.

"Ah, the historical collection on the…lost ages, the very early years."

Takuma had begun to retie the sloppy knot on his dressing robe and he froze in mid-knot. "The Lost Ages?" He repeated, softly. "The Early Years?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

The blond head shook quickly. "No, it is grandfather's personal collection, but I am sure he would not…mind. I'll see if I can have them brought over-"

"For tonight?" Kaname inserted, smoothly.

His friend blinked. "T-tonight…I will…see to that."

"Thank you." Kaname eased into the desk chair, turning his attention to the desk itself and the paper covering it. It was an indirect dismissal.

Takuma stood there, silently, a moment longer and then he turned towards the door. "Kaname, is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine, Takuma." The pureblood smiled, politely. "Is there something bothering you?"

"N-no." The green-eyed vampire shook his head with a faint twist, the corners of his mouth quirked up into a smile and he tipped his head in acknowledgement, ducking out the bedroom door and holding it open as Seiren brushed past him. Something very interesting was brewing—he could feel it in his fangs.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Erm, sorry for two notes. LOL. Kaname's headache is about to get bigger (seeing as poor Zero was suffering SO much!) and I thought it would be fun to write about Takuma and Aido, since I have not seen that pairing anywhere yet. My apologies to any TakumaxShiki fans. I think TxS is an adorable couple, but it was just so much more fun to write Aido. :P If there's any preferences for the remaining couples-let me know and I'll see what I can do. ^_^ Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you feel so inclined. (oh and to those in the USA, Happy July 4th holiday weekend!)**


	6. Chapter 6 : Filling In The Blanks

**A/N: Wow! Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews. I'm glad you liked TakumaxAido. ~_^ It's an unexpectedly interesting pairing for me and they're just adorable. LOL. I tried to work in the KanamexZero goodness in this chapter, but it pretty much turned into a monster chapter, so I ended up cutting it all in half, meaning this one is shorter and the KxZ won't be appearing until next chappy. I've got it pretty much all written, so as soon as I finish it (i.e. find a good stopping point!), I'll post it. ^_^ (See chapter 1 for disclaimers/warnings/etc). (To Atheiest1: Viktor is a vampire. LOL. (I'm doing a horrible job of explaining, eh?) He's just a blueblooded one.)  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"You expect me to believe that?" Yagari eyed the boy, feeling the urge to shoot the young vampire growing with every strange idea that spewed from the teen's lips. The more he heard, the more he didn't like. The more he didn't like, the more he wanted to hit something. The more he wanted to hit something, the more he realized that simply slapping Kaien Cross upside the head wouldn't suffice.<p>

Viktor sat on the opposite side of the table—the seat furthest away from the elderly hunter—his arms folded on the table and his head resting sideways on said arms. "I am not asking you to believe anything." He sighed, loudly. "I am merely inferring that it would be to your best advantage to simply accept it."

Yagari bristled. "I don't take any kind of handouts from bloodsucking-"

"Chairman?" A very much awake and well, Yuki stood in the doorway of the dining room, rubbing her face with the heel of one hand. "What is going on?"

At that, Viktor smiled. "Miss Yuki, I am so glad you are feeling well enough to join us." He said, smoothly, rising from the table and beckoning her to enter. "Please, do have a seat. Shall I bring you something to drink?"

A fierce blush sprang up, coloring her ivory face as Yuki barely managed to mumble a few choice words and somehow make it to one of the chairs in the corner of the table.

"Yuki!" The Chairman sprang up from his chair, attempting to hug her and having to settle for gently pushing her chair in to the table. He smoothed her hair, fondly, a slightly more mature air replacing his usual hyperness. "Did you rest well?" His voice was soft.

Yuki ducked her head, feeling the embarrassment turning to confusion. "Yes…it was…nice."

Viktor returned from the kitchen carrying a newly restocked tray and tea service. He poured the tea with elegance betraying the fact that they were easy motions he had doubtless done countless times before. His sapphire eyes flickered briefly to her and back, before he measured out creamer and sugar into the cinnamon-colored liquid. "Here you are, Miss Yuki." There was a teasing lilt to his voice. "This will help."

Accepting the cup, the weary brunette sipped it slowly at first and then gulped it down in large swallows. She set the empty cup down only for Viktor to take it from her hands and quickly refill it, pushing the cup back to her empty hands. Unable to help herself, Yuki downed it again and then a third cup, after which, she finally found her voice.

"Your eyes are blue."

He smirked. "Really? Imagine that."

The Chairman stiffened.

The awkward silence seemed to pass completely over the girl's head because her brows knitted together as her mind began to connect the dots. Her hands went to her head and she held tight to the handfuls of hair, tugging on them with more force than necessary. "What time is it? I don't even remember going to bed…everything feels weird."

"It is almost noon." Viktor supplied, helpfully. "Is something the matter?"

"Noon?" Yuki yelped. "Oh no. I'm missing school. I didn't do my homework. I'm gonna be in so much trouble and that idiot-" She stopped and blinked. "Wait a minute. Where's Zero?" Her hands suddenly smacked down on the table as she shot to her feet, the chair following over. Her accusing gaze turned to the elderly hunter and she scowled. "What did you do with, Zero? Something happened last night and he-" She winced. "Kaname."

"What?" The Chairman perked up.

"Kaname-sama." Yuki murmured. "He was here last night…and something happened…and him and Zero…oh ow! This hurts." She pounded her head with one closed fist, trying to make herself remember. "Something was wrong. Something happened…I think…I don't know. I think it happened, I can't make myself-"

Viktor caught her hand gently in his, deliberately forcing it down to the table and wrapping her fingers around the half-empty teacup. He flipped her fallen chair upright with a kick of his foot and hooked it over, behind her, pressing on her shoulders to force her to sit. "Now, Miss Yuki." His voice was sweet, sickeningly sweet. "You really should not upset yourself over such things." His hand rested on her shoulder, the faintest of pressures, keeping her in her seat.

Yuki trembled for a moment, her brown eyes growing wide. Now she could remember. "Oh my-!" She choked. "The book! I-I-I moved a book, Zero was sleeping on the sofa and I…" She seemed to be on the verge of tears and at this point, the Chairman had risen from his chair opposite of her, his own brown eyes shifting to convey a less than pleased meaning to the blue-eyed vampire standing calmly behind his near hysterical daughter.

At that subtle movement, Yagari finally rose from his chair, dragging it away from the wall and closer to the table. He didn't like any of this kind of cloak and dagger business and he really didn't care to be making deals with arrogant bloodsuckers. Something about the smooth-talking, blue-eyed vampire was just rubbing him the wrong way. Something about the way Kaien was acting around him didn't ease the hunter's worries in the least bit. It was almost as if the Chairman was hiding something from him.

Something that the strange vampire kid had managed to keep between them. Yagari didn't like that at all. "What book is she talkin' about?"

"This one." Viktor seemed to pull the book out of thin air and he dropped it, deliberately, on the dining room table. "Look familiar?"

Yagari stiffened. "I told that kid to-"

"This particular volume belongs to the current collection of royal historicals entrusted to the Nozaen family of nobles." Viktor smiled, humorlessly. "Tell me something, oh great and mighty hunter, pray tell—what are they doing in hunter hands? It reeks of the scent of your kind. I know the Nozaens well, they would never let these books out of their sight nor estate—even upon pain of death. It troubles me to know that it is not the only volume you have and that what you do have is not the entire collection, meaning the rest of it must be somewhere else." Slender, black eyebrows arched upwards in a mocking, almost daring look. "The fact that I am awake in my current capacity is proof that something is amiss." His eyes narrowed. "You can tell me of your own accord, or I shall seek the truth on my own."

Yuki was already reaching for the book when the Chairman hurriedly snatched it from her hands. "You shouldn't be…playing with this." The usual look in his bright eyes had shifted to something more protective and powerful, not at all like the absent-minded cheerfulness he often portrayed. "The Nozaen family?" He looked from the book to Viktor. "You know them?"

He shrugged. "Of course, any vampire of my rank and status would know them. They are the bookkeepers for our kind." He shrugged again. "How could I not? Granted, it has been quite some time since I have met any of them, but I am sure that I would be warmly received and I know that their loyalty to us and the Dragon are absolute."

"Dragon? Loyalty?" Yagari felt a sudden wave of coolness wash over him as he looked from the piercing blue eyes to the blue-silver emblem on the golden-bound hardcover book in Kaien's hands. There was no mistake to that. He was finally piecing together the puzzle pieces in a way that he didn't like at all. It wasn't that it didn't like solving the bothersome puzzle. He didn't like the answer that was quite literally staring at him across the dining room table. He jerked backwards as the realization hit. "Blueblood." He hissed. No matter how impossible or improbable, the elderly hunter had long known to trust his instincts when they screamed the truth. At this moment, the truth was the most impossible thing he had ever laid eyes on.

"Ah, so the hunter does have a brain." Viktor said, but without bite. There was merely the faintest glimmer of respect in his eyes towards the one-eyed, dark-haired man. "I did not think that hunters in this present time knew of our kind. I am aware that it has been a few centuries since my last awakening."

"C-centuries?" Yagari faltered. This time the chill that washed over him, settled in a little deeper than before. That wasn't good.

"Yes, centuries. I am sorry if I am not as young as you had hoped, time is something of little consequence to my kind." The smile Viktor gave in return did not touch his sparkling, sapphire eyes. He calmly reached over Yuki's shoulders, fiddling with the tea service and pouring the girl another cup of tea. Then turning over a new cup, he cast a glance at the hunter and then measured out an amount of cream and sugar, stirring twice before he set it at the empty place where the man would have sat.

"Kaien?"

The Chairman straightened, ever so slightly. "It was only a matter of time, Toga." He murmured. "You knew it just like I did. They would come back, they would always come back."

"But…this?" Yagari gestured towards the too calm, too collected, too quiet, Viktor. "You're not-you couldn't be—you're too-"

"Is it safe to assume you understand some of our internal workings?" The phrasing was polite, the question was more of a demand. Viktor's hand on Yuki's shoulder seemed to lengthen, as if grow the claws he was capable of.

"You're not the only one." Yagari spat out.

Viktor shrugged. "I am the only one _here_." He countered.

"You sleep for centuries." The one-eyed man glared at him. "They say you sleep for centuries. Why wake now?"

"I wake only when my mistress summons me." Viktor answered.

"And who is your mistress?"

"I can neither acknowledge nor deny her." Viktor smiled, a bittersweet expression. "Suffice it to say that something terrible must have happened for her to wake."

"Terrible how?" The Chairman frowned. "I'm getting tired of this kind of roundabout conversation, Viktor-kun."

The corners of Viktor's mouth twitched, faintly at the assigned honorific. He nodded towards the book in the man's hands. "How is the house of Nozaen?"

Yagari grew deathly pale. Then, very slowly, he moved to stand beside Chairman Cross. "Why do you ask?"

"Because it seems to be the one thing neither of you will allow me to know of and it troubles me that they have allowed such rare artifacts such as that-" He nodded towards the book. "To be removed from the premises right under their very noses. If that book was not lent in full trust and blood, then it is my responsibility to exchange words with them on the practice and oath they have sworn to uphold."

"And if you could not speak to them?" Yagari prompted.

"Then I would hunt them." Viktor smiled, thinly. "Those books are not meant to be in the hands of humans, hunters…or redbloods."

"And when you find them?" Yagari couldn't let up just yet. He had to be sure.

Viktor shrugged. "I do not believe I am conversing with a child, master hunter. Need I spell it out for you? I will hunt them and deliver a fitting punishment if necessary. I have all the authority I would need."

"And you expect me to believe that you're-"

"I will not bleed for you." Viktor interrupted. "I care not whether you believe what I am or what I am not, but I do not appreciate your own version of these…games. I will do what is necessary, what I feel is right, according to the given circumstance. Now, will you tell me or shall I seek the answers I need in a different way? What has happened to the Nozaen family?"

* * *

><p>Kaname was halfway through the blasted homework when he realized the thirst had returned with a vengeance. Muttering beneath his breath, the pureblood continued the ritual he'd been on since awakening. Shaking a few tablets into the water, he downed it in several gulps and repeated the process again, careful to tilt his head back and swallow so the reddened liquid would slide down his throat as he did so.<p>

It didn't help.

He rose from the desk, pacing the length of the room as he worked the mental pathways in his mind, coaxing it to accept what he'd just consumed and willing it to work for him. The unnatural thirst was quickly growing into an unnatural need. The tablets could last him a week at times, even more, now it was as if he'd consumed nearly two containers in the course of a few hours.

Something was most definitely wrong and for all of his wonderful brainpower, he couldn't guess what it could be.

Pacing back to the desk, he dumped the remaining tablets in the glass and swirled them with water from the pitcher. With vampire speed, he skimmed through the homework and made a few notations in the corners. Seiren had done an excellent job of saying all that he wanted to on the subject and had written in the style he had so dearly loved to write.

He almost smiled, until the empty container registered in the corner of his eye and he stifled the urge to groan. It was bad enough that he had to be up in the middle of the day-and doing homework nonetheless, but this new development was not helping in the least bit. His dry throat began to ache in that unwanted tingle he'd been trying so desperately to ignore. "Seiren?" He called, knowing she would appear within seconds, no matter how softly he dared breathe her name.

"Kaname-sama?"

Wordlessly, he tossed the empty container over his shoulder and waited. The pause was so brief, if he wasn't a pureblood, he would have missed it. Seiren caught the container and chucked another one towards his open hand. It was filled to the brim and in a lavender-colored tin he'd never seen before. It was probably her own.

"A few corrections on this." He turned to face her, handing over the sheaf of papers. "And the report was quite detailed—thank you. Please keep me informed on that an all counts." He turned back to the desk, rubbing his left arm, absently. Seiren was at the door before he thought to ask. "Seiren?"

"Yes, Kaname-sama?"

"Have you seen Zero Kiryu today?"

There was a moment of silence.

Kaname allowed it. He knew the silent guardian was reviewing everything she had seen and been through in the moments where she had not been expressly at his side.

"No, Kaname-sama."

"Very good. Never mind."

He waited until she left to pour himself another glass of water, hesitating before opening the new container of blood tablets. With a defeated sigh, he tucked the container into his shirt pocket and poured the glass of water back into the pitcher. Reaching beneath his desk, into the back of the neatly organized drawer, he drew out a small shot glass and bottle of dark red wine. Blood wine. It was an old vintage, and very dark and very red, promising pleasure at the first drop. He hoped it would deliver.

Pouring the glass full, he returned the bottle to the back of the drawer and lifted the small cup to his face, wafting the familiar, soothing presence beneath his nose.

Blood.

Real blood.

A faint shiver coursed through him.

Granted, the blood itself was of no real use, having lost its vitality at some point in history and was now merely paired with alcohol for taste's sake, but the scent and the taste—that was what made it addicting. The vintage declared it to be at least a few centuries old and Kaname smirked, remembering it as one of Asato Ichijo's many presents to win him over.

He'd sampled this wine enough times to know that it was harmless, a point meant to show the elderly vampire's trust and friendship, but the dark-haired pureblood couldn't have cared less. He didn't want to think of the white-haired leech and returned his mind to the present, where the ache in his throat was now throbbing, his fangs growing aroused at the scent of what it craved so close by. This was always his last resort—and it always worked. That he was stressed enough to drink it didn't sit well with him, but he pushed that thought aside, reaching for the glass.

Taking a sip, a small sip at first, Kaname lightly swished it around in his mouth and then swallowed, tilting his head back to pour the entire contents down his throat, hitting just the right spot to quell the burning with a different kind of sensation. That usually did the trick when the tablets were not enough.

Sitting in the chair with his head thrown back, Kaname toyed with the glass in his fingers, savoring the taste that slid down his throat and burned pleasantly through his mouth with satisfying little tingles.

He waited.

Then swore softly beneath his breath.

The burning was resurfacing still.

It hadn't worked at all.

Pushing away from the desk, Kaname resumed pacing, feeling a sudden haze settling over him. The incomprehensible thirst was like a beast trying desperately to crawl up his throat, no matter how hard he tried to leash and bind it in his stomach. For a fraction of a moment, he wondered if this was what it was like for Kiryu.

_For Zero…like this…all the time? _

He swallowed. He knew the silver-haired young hunter could not handle the blood tablets. He'd seen what was happening to the ex-human. He'd even witnessed a few of the gut-wrenching episodes where the starving vampire had fought his very nature—his very self. It had been a form of self-torture he'd loathed to observe. Zero had been strangely different in that regard. Kaname scowled. He knew that the young hunter would fall eventually, after all, he was now an ex-human—and one without a decent blood source, much less, strong blood. He'd refrained from involving himself, thanks to Yuki's careful pleading. He'd even forced himself to ignore the fact that the wretched bastard had dare to drink from her.

A low growl left this throat.

Zero had drunk from Yuki.

_Why not me? _

The thought was so unexpected and completely illogical that Kaname was unable to fathom how he'd reached that particular conclusion when a new set of images and sensations trickled through his body.

He'd seen them, when the two had thought he couldn't. He was a pureblood after all. There were some moments where he simply couldn't help himself. That had been one of them. He had known what he would see and yet, he'd been unable to look away. In the shower in the Chairman's guest bathroom, Zero plastered to the wall, sitting on the cold tiled floor, his control slipping away as the bloodlust consumed him. Yuki, with an trembling, determined compassion as she'd approached him, locked the doors and then, slowly settled onto his lap, her shaking fingers tugging the red ribbon free from 'round her neck, baring it for the unpracticed fangs of the silver-haired boy before her.

In that moment, Kaname thought for sure that his heart had shattered when Yuki brushed his hair with shaking, trembling fingers, whispering words that he couldn't hear into Zero's ears as she pressed herself closer to him and offered her neck. Zero had been unable to resist in every way and form, he'd caught her thin arms, holding her immobile as he'd rocked forward, harshly claiming the neck offered to him, drinking frantically, desperately and hungrily, need coursing through his body. Yuki hadn't resisted, her head resting on his shoulder as the first tear slipped past her tightly shut eyes, her shoulders slumping in shame. Their very act hidden from those around them as if it were something unforgivable, never to be spoken of.

The burning ache in Kaname's throat made redness swim before his eyes, followed by a streak of blue, coloring the memory in a violet-hued haze. He was seeing himself sitting in Zero's place, pinned against the cold tile floor and wall of the shower stall, with the handsome, silver-haired hunter straddling his lap, slender, white fingers curling through his dark hair, pulling his head to the side with just the right touch of force, pale, trembling, pink-lips that licked the side of his neck, a wordless apology for the moment of unavoidable pain before sinking his fangs into the vulnerable, exposed neck.

Kaname's fangs ached, but the fantasy played out in all honesty.

It was bliss.

Complete, pure, unadulterated bliss.

A soft moan left the pureblood's throat and he stumbled to the bed, clutching his head with one hand and his throat in the other.

Why now? Why that? And why on earth, _Kiryu_ of all people?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And it's torture Kaname time. *sigh* Kaname, Kaname...it's only fair, you have no idea what poor Zero was suffering. KxZ goodness coming up! Thanks for reading and leave a comment if you feel so inclined! ^_^ **


	7. Chapter 7 : Breaking Point

**A/N: And here's the next chapter! Special thanks to my wonderful reviews-I really, really appreciate all the wonderful comments/suggestions and feedback and I'll take them into consideration. Also, thanks for the new faves/story alerts and everything-a warm welcome to my new readers! Now, onto the story-happy reading!**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies** and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This is an M-rated story and such themes follow in line. **

* * *

><p>Viktor was furious.<p>

The change had been subtle but the end result was terrifying. His vampire aura had spread thinly and faintly, suddenly snowballing at the end to something so thick and dark, the entire room had become shrouded in a nearly pitch-black light, leaving his burning, flaming blue eyes as the sole source of light.

"Dead?" He rasped, his voice harsh and grating, nothing like it had sounded before. "You would have me believe that the entire house of Nozaen is dead? How foolish do you take me for! This cannot be! They would never leave themselves in a position so unguarded and—and even if they had, they would not have all died. The Council stood idle while this took place? You hunters did _nothing_? Surely you could see there was foul play on either side!" His furious glare was directed towards the one-eyed hunter. "Surely your role is not that of ornamental dolls in a china cabinet!"

Yagari swallowed, scowling in the thick darkness. "When you're through with the temper tantrum-" He growled. The boy had seemed intelligent enough—as far as he would grant a bloodsucker—but now he was pitching a fit like a regular human toddler. Though, perhaps, it was more the old-fashioned speech and pitch-black room that was beginning to get on his nerves.

The elderly hunter's words were like flipping a switch.

In a snap, everything returned to normal, with the exception of Viktor's cold, piercing gaze. "A tantrum?" He forced the words through his teeth, his face abnormally expressionless. "Is that what you would call the reaction of one who is mourning? Forgive me. I did not meant to let my…emotions surface so plainly. I have had many friends in the Nozaen family for many decades. A brother-in-law as well in the past few centuries before my slumber. It saddens me to know that their estate is no more—because for it to have burned to the ground, it means there were none of their blood kin left to come to it." The blue eyes flashed angrily. "It means their blood is forever lost. This is hardly something over which I can remain calm, do excuse my rudeness, oh great hunter, but I think I may be entitled."

Yagari bristled, but the Chairman placed a warning hand on his arm. He was glad Yuki had already left for the Sun Dorms, because he wasn't sure he wanted her to know everything that was happening. Of course, the fact that Viktor had suggested it hadn't really eased his mind on the matter, but he was glad nonetheless to have his adopted charge out of the way. It allowed him to focus more on the serious matters at hand. Such as the blue-eyed vampire's reaction and the dozens of years of memories and knowledge slowly being dredged up from the back of his mind. There were many things that were coming to the surface, a great deal of them being things the Chairman had once wished to forget. He cleared his throat, trying to figure how to settle the two down. He had a feeling Viktor and Yagari were going to end up like Kaname and Zero if he didn't do something soon. That was one headache he didn't want to have all over again. "Viktor—Toga—there's got to be—I-"

"You need not worry." Viktor took a deep breath and slowly released it, the tension leaving his body. "I cannot act without certain permissions." He turned away. "Unlike others. However, even though it pains me greatly, I can take no action in this matter at this present time. I would ask, however, that if there is anything you could share—I would be most interested in knowing more of this…tragedy." His hands curled into fists and then, just as he'd been doing all morning and the night before, Viktor reached up with one hand, pinching the bridge of his nose and then rubbing his forehead as if deliberately forcing his own feelings, emotions and opinions away. "My apologies." The apology was muttered and his hands unclenched to hang loosely at his sides. "Sometimes I forget that what is natural to me is not something humans, hunters or redbloods could understand." A pained expression registered on his pale face. "Speaking of which, there is a vampire at the front door."

Yagari and the Chairman exchanged a glance. "Go." The one-eyed hunter kept his gaze on the dark-haired boy. "I'll watch this one."

The Chairman tried to smile, rising from the table to head for the door.

A few minutes later, he was backing into the dining room, his body strangely relaxed, his hands held in the air as he inched further into the room, his soft brown eyes locked onto one thing.

Yagari cursed softly as he leapt to his feet and took in the sight that had made his friend react in such a way.

Zero stood, half-slumped against the doorjamb, his wide eyes a bright burning red, his breath coming in heavy, gasping pants, topless and looking exhausted beyond his usual weariness. The red eyes flicked a darker shade then bright. "Help me…" He choked out, his hands reaching for his neck, fingers lengthening into claws as the bundle of shirt-and-jacket fell to the floor. A topless Zero suffering from bloodlust reached out to the trio.

There was a low growl from the table and the Chairman felt his headache begin followed by Viktor's expected exclamation.

"Hunter!" Viktor hissed, the knee-jerk reaction surfacing. Then he paused, a hint of confusion in his exclamation. "A hunter…vampire?" He shifted uneasily, conscious of Yagari's glare on him and aware of the suffering vampire just a few feet away. It pained him in a way he hadn't expected.

"Cross!" Yagari barked, not quite turning his back to the duo, but his expert eye remaining trained on his student. "Get him some of those tablet things or whatever it is that you-"

"Tablets?" Viktor repeated, puzzled. "What in the dragon's name has that got to do with anything?" He was up from his chair and starting forward, just as the Chairman held him back and Yagari grabbed a lunging Zero. There was shout of something and Zero was violently flung to the floor, a smoking, silver charm dangling from his sensei's hand.

"Toga…" The Chairman growled, the anger showing in his eyes as he directed the glare towards Viktor, a silent order to stay put. "Zero!" He crouched beside the figure, feeling his chest tighten as he gazed into the red eyes and the helpless body twisting on the ground. This was not right. He couldn't quite live with himself for letting this reach such a point. "Toga, did you have-"

Toga stood to the side, one hand pressed against his neck, staying a faint trickle of blood. He'd reacted at the last minute, because it was Zero. He'd thrown the mildest charm he'd had—because it was Zero. He stood silently, waiting for the Chairman's lecture, offering no defense—because it was Zero. This was his student, his apprentice and possibly the closest thing he would ever have to a son. It hurt him as much as it did the ponytailed man crouched beside the prone body.

The moment was broken by Viktor moving forward. "Vampire or hunter?" He stood behind the hunter's shoulder, craning his neck to see the fallen figure on the dining room floor. A stab of concern registered as he took in the scene and his vampire instincts surged to the forefront. Even if it was a hunter-vampire hybrid of some sort, even if it was a redblood, he could not ignore that. It was not in his nature to do so—not when he could help ease the discomfort in some small way. "Does he belong to you?"

"Shut up and stand back!" Yagari snapped, twisting to reach and grab the slippery vampire. "Or I'll-"

"Hunter." Viktor classified, ignoring the warning. "I hate hunters." He wrinkled his nose at the suffering hunter-turned-vampire and then stepped neatly around Yagari. "You had best appreciate this, boy." He muttered, bending to lock eyes with the struggling, silver-haired boy. Viktor's eyes fluxed a bright, vivid blue and a surge of power swept through the room as if an invisible explosion had gone off.

The Chairman caught on a few seconds too late. Zero's body went limp the red in his eyes fluxing to the bright blue before Yagari whirled on the dark-haired vampire.

Zero's lax body twitched on the floor.

* * *

><p>Yuki made her way back to the Sun Dorms, the blazing sun making her tired eyes burn. Things were a blurry haze in her mind and it seemed to become even more complicated and confusing the more she tried to figure it out. The few times she had tried to join in the conversation with the mysterious Mr. Viktor and the two older men, she'd been given tea and ushered off to bed. It had happened more times than she could recall and in the end, she'd finally given up.<p>

She had supposedly slept but that didn't seem to have done anything for her, in fact, she seemed to be more tired than ever, if at all. When she had dared to protest, Mr. Viktor had frowned. Yuki sighed. Her feet dragged, scuffing the shoes as she shuffled towards the building that seemed too far away.

She was tired. So very tired and it hadn't been any of her rescuer's business to tell her to go find a bed and collapse in it. Yuki pouted, her forehead wrinkling into a knot. It was accurate—she did want to find her bed and collapse atop it, to sleep for centuries if nothing else, but she hadn't cared for the rude suggestion and the bored gaze that had accompanied it.

There was a sneaking suspicion in the back of her head that the Chairman was hiding something from her again and the mysterious Mr. Viktor hadn't seemed to be in the mood to answer any of her questions. Yuki huffed, making her way up the dorm stairs and to the door where she turned the knob and entered the foyer. They were always treating her like a child. One of these days, she'd find the nerve and then she'd demand that they stop. They'd have to take her seriously then.

It took her a few more minutes to make it to her shared dorm and she kicked off her shoes haphazardly, throwing herself onto the neatly made bed. She landed with a soft grunt and immediately tangled herself up in the covers, relaxing into the familiar softness. Oh, that was good. Real good. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

Her body began to respond, relaxing into the comfortable mattress and blankets, her eyelids beginning to droop and slowly slide shut in a handful of minutes. A lovely silence filled the room and Yuki was grateful for a moment, until there was a quiet knock at the door. Her eyes flew open as she struggled to sit up and failed quite comically.

The door opened to show a mildly curious Yori, who took one look at the tangle of blankets and sheets, before stepping into the room and dissolving into a fit of giggles.

"Y-yori-chan?" Yuki wrestled with the sheets, wriggling out from under the blanket, a tinge of embarrassment registering. "Why are you here? Is something the matter?"

"Hmm?"

"Isn't it…isn't it?" Yuki fumbled, her brain sputtering to find the words to complete her question.

"Lunch break." Yori held up a kerchief-wrapped bento. She had caught sight of the lone prefect straggling towards the Sun Dorms and stopped at the cafeteria only to have two lunches packed. She'd then taken her time, returning to the dorms to find her generally cheerful friend wrapped up in a tangle of blankets and sheets.

Yuki blinked. Her stomach rumbled. She blushed.

Yori smiled warmly, retreating to her side of the room and sitting on the edge of her bed, setting the kerchief-wrapped bundle on the end. She gave a little jerk of her head, beckoning to the confused brunette on the other side of the room. "Rough night last night?" She asked.

Yuki stumbled over, successfully untangling her exhausted limbs from the blankets. "It was…rough." She managed, plopping down on the edge of the bed, reaching towards the lunch bundle. Her stomach rumbled happily at the scent of her favorite lunch set—the one with the ginger stir-fry. "My favorite stir-fry! Oh that looks good. Thank you, Yori-chan!"

"Hey!" Yori smacked her hand lightly with a pair of chopsticks. "Manners." She winked, handing over a pair of chopsticks.

Yuki blushed, taking the proffered paper-wrapped sticks and holding them properly in her hands, lengthwise. She tipped her head quickly. "Thanks for the food." Happily, she pounced on the square section of rice, snapping up a mouthful of stir-fry and another of rice.

There was the sound of clacking chopsticks and a companionable silence for the next few minutes until Yuki was better able to talk without her mouth full. "Thank you."

"That's okay. I brought your homework too—you're coming for the afternoon sessions?"

"Homework?" Yuki groaned.

"You are keeping up, right?"

"Ah…yeah, sure."

"Zero's tutoring you?"

Yuki winced. She tried not to remember how the last tutoring session had turned out. Zero was convinced she had turnips for brains. A fear that the petite brunette was beginning to believe. "Probably not…unless-!" She brightened.

A slight shudder passed through Yori. "On second thought, if…if you finish your prefect duties early, I can help." She had heard many stories from the other girl, of the bribes and threats used to coax her adoptive brother into sharing a few minutes of his smarts to keep her grades from dipping too low. "But only if you want to, I have to study too."

"Really?" Stars seemed to light up Yuki's face. "Thank you, Yori-chan! Thank you very much!" She smothered her friend in a hug, jerking back with a yelp when she realized the half-eaten lunch was partially squashed between them. She blushed bright red to the tips of her ears. "Erm…sorry, Yori."

Yori stifled a smile, reaching for a napkin to dab at her uniform jacket. There were many things she could say, some of them might work, some might not, but in that moment, she realized there really wasn't anything she wanted to say. It didn't matter if she had to study or not, she knew she'd gladly take the time to tutor the bubbly brunette.

Yuki was still stuffing her face and she was in mid-chew when one particular thought registered. "Hey, Yori-chan, don't you have class right now? A different curriculum than me?" The brunette referred to the advanced placement groups the ginger-haired girl was often a member of. There was a shrug in answer. "Why'd you come here? I wouldn't have starved." She chewed slowly and thoughtfully as if thinking through such a simple question was hard work.

_Because I wanted to see you, idiot_. Yori thought, forcing a smile and pretending her mouth was full. There were some questions she didn't always have to answer.

* * *

><p>Kaname was stumbling through the woods, taking the long way to the Chairman's private quarters. He wasn't thinking straight and he wasn't thinking crooked, he most certainly wasn't thinking at all. He was only aware that he was thirsty and his body was telling him that what he craved was nearby. Very close nearby. With vampire speed, he blurred from the Moon Dorms towards the gentle pull guiding him forward.<p>

He had fought the thirst as best as he could, before realizing that something was deathly wrong. Deathly, in terms that if his own thirst were to go out of control, there were more dangers for those around him—and he wasn't necessarily thinking in terms of the humans. He had to see the Chairman and fast—if some new measures had been taken, if some new charm had been sprung, if somehow something had managed to escape Seiren's attention—Kaname wanted to know, NOW!

The red began to creep into his vision, the unusual tinge of blue accompanying it. There were hazy imprints of Zero overlapping his line of sight as he willed his body to keep control of himself. He could not afford to lose. He could not let himself go. This was bad. This was dangerous. This could harm Yuki.

_This could harm Zero._

His mind screamed at him and Kaname screamed back with all the power he had as a pureblood. The answer came in a more physical form.

The redness dimmed, but the blue haze remained.

A burning, tingling feeling overtook his left arm and he clutched the limb close as the Chairman's office and main house came into view. It had taken a scant few seconds at best, yet the moments had been as torturous as if he'd endured hours. His jaw settled in a grim line as he blurred to a stop at the front door.

His pureblood sense were tingling and practically ranting at him, screaming bloody murder.

He knew something was wrong.

His body knew something was wrong.

His blood knew something was wrong.

And for the life of him, Kaname Kuran had no clue what it was.

One fleeting thought skimmed through his mind as he jabbed the doorbell, centuries of ingrained manners and etiquette garnering the best of him as he prepared to break the door down.

_Please let Yuki be alright. _

His stomach clenched tight and heaved, another jolt of heat streaked up his arm.

Kaname swallowed, cradling the burning left arm close to his chest.

A new thought overrode the first one.

_Please let Zero be alright. _

* * *

><p>Viktor rose to his feet in all calm, solemnity, moving to stand away from the doorway and putting his hands together in an unfamiliar gesture. He tipped his head forward and offered a short bow from the waist. "Because I have not the time nor patience to explain, I offer my apology for that which I am about to do." He sighed, taking in the appropriately grim and unsurprised faces of the Chairman and the elderly hunter. "I beg to differ on what you think I am about to do, however, since what I am going to do is something that I have not the true right to as yet—I apologize for that and nothing else."<p>

"For what?" Yagari growled. "You bloodsucking-!"

Viktor's eyes flared blue. The brightest, boldest blue it had shone yet.

With that sudden change, the Chairman found that he could not move. His lips were firmly pressed together, his voice having left him, his entire body immobile as the dark-haired vampire glided past him. A frantic glance at Yagari showed the hunter to be in a similar predicament, albeit struggling a bit more vigorously.

Viktor paused, deliberately, turning his ice blue eyes to stare directly into the single eye glaring heatedly at him. Yagari's body twitched and jerked, before the head lolled forward. With a sigh, Viktor continued on, exiting the dining room and moving to the living room. He paused only to swing Zero up in his arms, holding the body away from his own. Surveying the sparse living room, he chose to carefully set the armful on the ground, stretching out the young hunter's body to its full length. His lower lip curled in distaste. "Hunter." He muttered, suppressing a shudder. There were traces of vampiric nature present, but before that had ever come about, the boy had a been a hunter.

Rising from the floor at the sound of the doorbell, Viktor went to answer it.

He stared at the vampire glowering down at him with bloodlust burning in his eyes. Then the dark-haired, blue-eyed, pale-skinned vampire stepped to the side and beckoned the boy in. "Pureblood." He muttered, his left eye twitching faintly. "Hunters and purebloods." He ground out. "Of all the things in the history of the world, what have I done to you that I must be punished in such an extravagant way?" He reached out, brushing his hand lightly on the forearm of the newcomer.

"Your name?" Viktor inquired, blue eyes still burning, his touch seeming to soothe the agitated vampire as he guided him towards the living room and the sleeping Zero on the floor. He could feel a familiar tingle of energy stretching out from the pureblood, searching, begging and calling—just like the silver-haired hunter-vampire boy had. They were lucky he'd been paying attention. They were lucky he had attention to spare in the first place. It was not in his nature to help those he despised out of the scant goodness of his heart. But it was not in his nature to let them suffer needlessly either. He sighed.

"Kuran." The dark-haired beauty said curtly. "Kaname Kuran." The red eyes glowed brightly, the troubled air dissipating to be replaced by a powerful, seductive aura, the first hint that the pureblood was actively fighting the attempted control. The blue-tinged eyes fluxed red and burgundy before the flicker of sky-blue returned, tinting the pained orbs to a more violet hue.

Viktor smiled thinly. It was a fleeting moment of control—he wouldn't allow the pureblood any more than that, it would be too dangerous to the silver-haired hunter fast asleep on the floor. "Right this way, Mr. Kuran." He gestured towards the living room and at the precise moment where Kaname caught sight of Zero, Viktor's hand flashed out with a powerful jolt of energy to a nerve ending in the side of the pureblood's neck.

The pureblood crumpled to the floor, his descent softened by Viktor's half-hearted attempt to catch him.

Viktor sighed. "Someone is going to have my head for this." He muttered, dragging the pureblood to lie beside Zero. "And if they do not have it, then I shall have theirs." He then removed the pureblood's uniformed jacket, rolling up the shirt sleeves. His eyebrows danced upwards at seeing the boys' tattoos on the same respective left arms. "Lovely." He grumbled, taking each tattooed arm and holding them up. They needed to complete them, so he curled the hands together. Zero's roughened, peach-tinted fingers, Kaname's smooth, pale digits.

It was awkward and clumsy with the positioning of their respective bodies, but it did the trick.

The moment Viktor touched the two hands together, Kaname's tattoo began to squirm and writhe as if it were coming alive, followed shortly by Zero's. The blueblood watched with some fascination as the ribbons grew up and over the hands of the two boys at last, touching and mingling with each other as if they were alive. The first one to accept the bonding would no longer have to see the physical proof of their binding—the tattoo would sink beneath the skin, rendering their lovely complexions to their original state. Only in a time of great need or stress would the markings appear again. It was a small consolatory side effect of the spell—a minor concession meant to appease a vampire's inherently vain nature.

A soft, pale blue glow of energy enveloped both vampires and finally, it faded as Viktor moved to the far end of the room and took a seat in a corner where he could observe without being directly seen. His eyes finally closed and the blue fire smoldered behind his closed lids, with one final whisper from his lips and four spinning circles appeared on the floor, forming an invisible box around the pair. "Scent charm." Viktor murmured, eyes remaining closed as he directed his powers to finish the chant to lock the charm in place.

It wouldn't do to attract the attention of any other vampires—not for something as intimate as this.

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><p><strong>AN: Something as intimate as...as...ack! And...I'm such a tease. LOL. *ducking* I was going to include this lovely scene in this chapter, but then I decided to add a few things and then it got monstrously long on me...and yeah, a couple thousand words add up to quite a few pages. So I sliced it in half again. To make up for it though, virtually the ENTIRE next chapter is solely devoted to Zero and Kaname. *nods* and they deserve it! I'm still tweaking it a bit, but I'll post it as soon as I can. **

**Thanks a bunch for reading, please leave a comment if you feel so inclined! **^_^


	8. Chapter 8 : First Level Bonding

**A/N: And here we go, Chapter eight! As promised, it is entirely Zero and Kaname, with a hint of Viktor/plot bunnies at the end. I did what's called a recap switch in POV's so you can see both sides of this lovely moment. Thank you all very much for the WONDERFUL reviews, and welcome to the new readers and those of you who added me to your story/author alerts. It made my week! Enjoy the read! ^_^**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies** and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This is an M-rated story and such themes follow in line. **

* * *

><p>Zero could feel his arm burning and his head throbbing. His body was on fire in more ways than one and for all the years that he had to his name, the ex-human thought he was really going to die this time. There had been many moments and times over the past few years when he thought he really had pulled the final strand on his thread of life, but it seemed he'd had one left to spare after all—and it was swiftly unraveling before him. He didn't remember how he'd awakened or why, because the last thing he could call to mind was that wonderful blackness rushing to claim him and the despairing hope of any other choice as he'd succumbed to it.<p>

He suffered horribly from bloodlust before, but there was something almost unnatural about the strength and timing of this particular attack. The hunter's foggy brain attempted to puzzle it out and failed.

The familiar blue tinge still hovered in the corners of his mind, touching his innards and tainting his vision with the strange, blue hue. He could vaguely recall the color being important, but could not actively remember the reason why. The suspended pain had faded somewhat and it seemed like it had dulled to a faint numbness somewhere just out of reach. That was fine, as far as Zero was concerned. He didn't care. He just wanted to get his head together.

His mind was hazy and his surroundings seemed to be spinning in continuous circles, keeping him from catching his bearings at the one time when his very soul seemed to depend on it. He couldn't recall where he was and how he'd gotten there either, but his body ached and burned in a way that let him know something bad had happened at one point or another. The numbness had throbbed somewhere in the back of his mind, spooking the pain away, but not removing the discomfort entirely.

Trying to move his arms and legs proved to be a profitable gamble, because the expected stiffness was nowhere to be found. Instead, he felt light and still dizzy, as his arms moved easily and he turned his head to the side to try and guess at his surroundings. It felt like it would take too much effort to sit up, so he stayed on the floor, lavender-hued eyes skimming everywhere.

Red flashes streaked his vision and the aching burn in the back of his throat reminded him of what his earlier distress had been. The thirst was still too real and he was still too out of it.

Thirsty.

So very, very thirsty.

He swallowed, painfully, trying to fight the urge as he had done before. It was harder than before, because a faintly tantalizing scent was teasing his nostrils and filtering through the air with a seductive sweetness he hadn't ever imagined could be possible in plain air. It was practically calling for him, begging and crooning for him to come and flame it.

It made the burning ache even deeper as he breathed in the delectable scent and realized he could practically taste the sweetness the scent promised. It was that rich. He liked it. Another shaky breath calmed him and while it made his vampire senses go wild, the ration, hunter side of him allowed it as a simple pleasure—and let it calm his frayed nerves. His fangs ached.

Zero lay there in a haze, feeling some of the confusion fade as he twisted around to get an even better look of his surroundings. He still couldn't sit up, but he could see much better and further now and he had a vague feeling of déjà vu, it would seem that this was somewhere familiar, though he had yet to put his finger on it.

A pale shock of skin and familiar, rich, dark hair caught his eye. The room stopped spinning and his body began to throb as if in sync with the heartbeat across from him. Zero struggled to sit up, reaching uncertainly towards the white-uniformed figure that seemed to be just within reach. It was too good to be true. He had to be dreaming.

Or pretty close to dead.

That was the only way this kind of twisted reality could be playing out before him. The white-uniformed figure was very similar to that of a certain Kaname Kuran. Right down to the perfect complexion, the pretty hair and then perfectly formed figure that was now resting beside him. It was also the source of the delicious scent that had been coaxing his body back to sanity. Zero swallowed. It was tempting. It was beyond tempting. He desperately wanted to sink his hands into that darkened head of hair, to yank that proud head to the side and sink his fangs into the perfect flesh of the pureblood's exposed throat.

Yes, he wanted to do that.

Zero gulped, struggling to hold his thoughts together and focus. The figure in question lay beside him as if it were the most natural thing in the world, seeming to be completely relaxed and entirely at ease. He tentatively touched the pale-white arm and skimmed his fingers over a familiar blue-silver tattoo so like his own. He smirked. The pureblood had one just like him. The smirk deepened. That was good. They matched. For all their opposites and differences, they had one thing in common.

_Ha_.

That was one thing Yuki didn't have, Zero thought, jealously, grabbing the hand attached to the arm and pulling the body possessively towards him. He pressed a kiss to the exposed wrist. He was surprised to find that the hand attached to the arm came willingly, offering no resistance at all.

And when the head of the owner of said arm and hand turned to face him, there wasn't a single hint of the disgust or condescending nature he had learned to expect from the pureblood. Instead, there was something almost akin to wonderment and a hesitant uncertainty in the shimmering burgundy eyes. For one nearly breathless moment, they stared at each other, transfixed in some strange, blue-tinted dreamworld.

"K-kaname?" Zero heard himself say, having to know, needing to know, desperately wanting some sort of confirmation.

"Zero…Zero…" The name was whispered and suddenly, Zero was holding an armful of gorgeous pureblood as the slender body trembled.

He gawped in surprise, then clutched frantically at the white-uniformed body and then at the thick, chocolate curls. Kaname's hair was softer than it looked and very silky. His fingers slipped through them, seeking purchase and finding none until Zero opted to loop his arms around Kaname's neck instead of his head to hold the other vampire close. That worked better, much better, really. He held the armful close to his chest, as tight as he could possibly manage and breathed deeply, enjoying the intoxicating scent. The thirst in his throat had dulled to a tolerable ache as if simply being near this vision of beauty was enough for him. Zero didn't care. If this was a dream, then there was nothing against him giving into his inner desires.

Turning his head to see the pureblood's face, he grinned, sloppily. He felt sky-high and blissfully invincible for all of one giddy minute.

Kaname smiled back, a goofy grin decorating his aristocratic features. He leaned back into the arms holding him, as if checking to see their strength, then leaned forward and snuggled comfortably into the embrace. Zero could only think that this felt more right than anything else. He sniffed the dark head of hair, relishing the fact that he could and that the wonderful scent spiraled through his brain once more, sending happy-go-lucky tremors through his exhausted body.

Something shimmered between them and both boys turned to stare at their respectively tattooed arms, Zero stared at his own, then held up Kaname's in amazement as the blue ribbon suddenly jerked away, dissolving from Kaname's left arm before their very eyes.

Oh no.

No, no, no. That could not happen. They needed to match. He needed to match. They had to have _something_ in common.

Zero's lavender eyes fluxed red and he pounced on the pureblood, ripping away the white vest and black shirt, shredding the fabric beneath his half-formed claws. The red tie was cast aside and he stripped the silken fabrics away to reveal a taut, conditioned body that shivered beneath his touch. He was searching for the missing tattoo, but what he'd found was so much more interesting. Warm, trembling fingers skimmed lightly over pale flesh, a hiss coming from the older vampire as Zero's exploring fingers lightly grazed over pretty pink nipples.

So beautiful.

The hunter's red eyes grew wide, hints of lavender returning as Zero stared at the pureblood's beautiful body. He wanted to touch it. Oh, how he wanted to touch it. He ran his fingers gently over the creamy expanse, delighting in the response from the sensitive body clutching him. It shivered and twitched, pleasurably beneath his exploring fingers. Zero felt the burn in his throat fade almost completely only to have a new ache settling somewhere in his chest. He wanted to do so much more than just touch. He wanted that body. He wanted the pureblood's very soul. To hold it, to have it…to claim it…forever. He ran his hands deliberately over the smooth chest, adding a touch more pressure this time as he brushed his fingers on the soft, sensitive, pink nubs.

A whimper escaped and Zero's head jerked up, quizzically to look at the deep, burgundy eyes. He wasn't thinking very well, but he felt something inside of him respond to the unspoken plea. The ache in his chest pounded a little deeper. He could fix that. He could hear the sound for what it was and knew it was within his power to remedy it. He wrapped his arms possessively around the beautiful creature and growled softly, a sound meant to be soothing and reassuring for the armful of loveliness beneath him.

* * *

><p>Kaname was sure he was dreaming.<p>

He had to be, there was no other logical explanation for the fantasy that was playing out before his very eyes.

He couldn't quite recall much of anything, save that he had entered the Cross's private residence and somehow had ended up in the living room, lying on the floor beside a certain, half-naked, silver-haired, purple-eyed hunter. His body had responded with embarrassing honesty upon seeing the pale expanse of flesh just out of his reach.

Automatically he mapped out the veins lying just beneath the pale skin of that perfect body, staring at how the hunter tattoo interrupted the expanse of white throat. It was almost close enough that he could reach out and touch it, maybe. He wasn't sure, but the urge to run his hands over every inch of the hunter's body was growing incredibly difficult to suppress.

He wanted to. He really wanted to.

But he knew better.

The little whispers in the back of his mind taunted and teased him. Kaname struggled to fight them and found that it was a losing battle. Wherever he was, however this had come about, it wasn't a dream, it was a nightmare, it had to be.

Senseless tears formed at the corners of his eyes, threatening to spill over. He swallowed hard and willed them away with every scrap of dignity that he could.

Then he heard something move beside him.

He almost didn't dare to turn, to see if it really was Zero.

Then he felt it.

A warm, strong hand running lightly along his own, stroking, smoothing and tracing something along the entire length of his arm. Every single touch sent a volley of tremors through the pureblood and his breath caught in his throat as Zero repeated the action, seeming to enjoy the very act of touching him. It was a sweetly unexpected torture.

Then Zero grabbed his hand.

Kaname turned, disbelieving, as the hunter took his arm and pressed a kiss to his wrist. He was speechless.

The Zero pulled harder, holding the arm towards him as if it were his own. Kaname felt the warmth beginning to trickle in as his own cold fingers were warmed by Zero's as the hunter held his hand to his bare chest. The skin was soft and smooth in a way Kaname hadn't expected the hunter to be. It was a little secret that burrowed into his mind and stayed there with a self-satisfied smirk.

A painful ache in his chest began to burn, as if like a magnet, drawing him closer to the hunter, willing him to be nearer than he already was.

If this was a dream or a nightmare, he didn't care. Screw the whole mess.

Kaname lifted himself with some effort and struggled forward. He was relieved and comforted in the moment that Zero caught him with gentle arms and cradled him close to that wonderfully bare chest. His dark red eyes stared into the deep, violet-hued orbs that held his gaze for a tantalizing, agonizing minute. There wasn't a hint of the usual disgust, contempt or hate that often brewed in the young hunter's gaze. There was something so pure, so honest and so convicting that the ache in his chest burned a little deeper.

He wanted this to be real. The emotions were horribly out of whack, but he wanted the rest of it. To be here, to be with Zero, to be held, to feel like he mattered to someone when he looked into their eyes and saw the acceptance he so desperately craved. Memories of everything between them replayed in his head and a shameful blush spread across his face as he hid it in Zero's neck, unwilling to accept that he'd treated him so coldly before.

He hadn't wanted it to turn into that kind of relationship—not when it could be something so much better, like they were now. He felt strangely comforted and safe, as rare as that was, and didn't want to move at all. He was perfectly fine with staying here until the very end of time, if it came.

"K-kaname?" Zero's voice was soft, husky, as he breathed the name into the pureblood's ear.

Ice screamed through his veins as Kaname felt himself freeze. This dream couldn't end so quickly, it couldn't disappear on him just when he had finally decided to go with it. "Zero…" There was no answer, no protest, no harsh words. "Zero!" Slightly shaking fingers threaded soothingly through his hair and Kaname leaned into the touch, finding that the soft motions soothed the ache in his chest, somewhat. He hoped the fingers wouldn't stop, he liked this. It was nice. He could definitely stay like this forever.

The hunter gifted him with a brilliantly warm smile that made all traces of ice melt as he tentatively returned the expression.

Something shimmered to his left and he twisted to look, surprised to see a soft blue glow from his bare arm, the light continuing up along his bicep and beyond the uniformed shirt and jacket. He stared at it, confused and wondering. He couldn't remember rolling his shirt up and he hadn't seen the tattoo in…

All thoughts flew out the window when Zero suddenly pounced on him, pinning the pureblood to the floor with sudden urgency and strength. He made no sound as he felt the hunter's vampire claws beginning to shred through the layers of clothes. Any possible spike of fear faded away as he wordlessly allowed himself to be stripped bare from the waist up.

Those same talented, warm fingers ran expertly across his cool skin, touching, feeling and brushing, leaving delightfully fiery trails in their wake as they skimmed over his body. Kaname gritted his teeth, feeling a new sensation beginning to pool in his lower regions. A touch of red colored his cheeks once more, then faded almost as quickly as it had come.

There was no shame in this or whatever was to come.

A hiss came through his mouth as the warm fingers caught on sensitive pink nubs and rubbed—ever so gently.

Pure, sweet torture.

Any other sounds were muffled in his throat as Kaname fought to keep some level of control. With those talented hands, the hunter was swiftly undoing him. They were ruthless in their gentle exploration, repeating the touches that had brought the hiss and daring to roam even further. A glance to Zero's eyes showed a vivid red and an expression of complete possessiveness.

The very vision brought Kaname's vampire instincts to the forefront and he reached up, locking his arms around the hunter's neck. If Zero could touch, then he could touch too and if he couldn't touch, then he could at least hold. His cool fingers danced across the heated flesh of back and shoulders, enjoying the feel of the hunter's smooth skin and losing all coherent thoughts as the hunter continued to rub and stroke in a strange rhythm.

His throat burned faintly and Kaname felt his pureblood nature surging to the forefront. He couldn't fight it off for much longer. It craved the blood he so often denied it and now, it reveled in the situation he found himself enjoying. Additional ripples of pleasure coursed through him and his fangs lengthened, growing out to accommodate the ache.

He wouldn't be able to wait much longer.

If Zero didn't want this, then he would have to be the one to pull away, Kaname thought, fuzzily. He wanted blood, to give or to take wasn't important, he just needed something more, something deeper. Having Zero's hands caressing his cold body was sweet bliss, but it wasn't enough. He wanted more. He wanted something that only they could have.

Kaname lifted himself carefully, using the arms still locked around Zero's neck for leverage. He nuzzled the side of the hunter's neck and Zero returned the favor. Joy sang through his veins as he accepted the wordless confirmation that it was of his own free will, whether Zero realized it or not, his vampire instincts were natural and beautiful when in play.

He wanted the hunter's fangs in him. He wanted to feel them on his skin and in his neck, drawing what he needed from what he had to give. The wait was almost unbearable—because he had fought such urges before and his body was reacting as he had trained it. Kaname's eyes fluxed from burgundy to a deep, vivid purple. He could not hold back the whimper that fell from his lips, a silent plea of his own, his mind blanking out as his pureblood side took over.

He wanted Zero and he wanted him now. Zero cuddled him close as he whimpered again, this time, picking up on the noise and rubbing a reassuring hand along his back, with a soft, deliberate growl.

Such understanding was unexpected. Kaname felt his body growing weak with relief. He couldn't begin to speak or explain anything, but Zero had understood him anyway and responded in a way that he couldn't resist. He was a pureblood, he should be the one putting Zero in such a state, but at that moment, such thoughts left him. He didn't care. If it was Zero, then it didn't matter. He'd gladly give the hunter his first.

The pureblood arched his neck and gave in.

* * *

><p>Zero could feel the burning in his throat bubbling up again, but this time with a different touch of urgency. Instead of threatening to drive him insane, it was almost expectant, anticipatory as if it knew it would be soon cared for.<p>

Kaname kissed the side of his neck, sucking on it softly to tease the ivory skin as his own body began to burn with a different kind of heat. Zero eagerly did the same, his aroused fangs lightly skimming over the small patch of swollen skin. The hunter delighted in the fact that the pale body in his arms was swiftly turning a pretty, flushed hue of pink. He liked that. Oh yes, he did like that. There was faint sound near his ear and Zero needed no further urging. He bit down with relish into the delightfully scented skin to receive a mouthful of complete, utter bliss.

White seemed to flash before his eyes and Zero was absolutely sure that at that moment—he had died.

There was absolutely nothing in the world he could call to mind that compared to drinking Kaname Kuran's blood. It was every bit as rich, thick and sweet as he had thought it would be and as it flowed into him, he could sense a more welcoming feeling flooding through him, feelings of adoration, admiration, acceptance and something he couldn't quite identify.

It was nothing like Yuki's.

When he'd sampled Yuki's blood out of sheer necessity—he'd tasted guilt, fear and overwhelming shame. It had tainted the sincerity of the offer. It had been bitter, flat and unappealing in every way.

This was different.

This was life. He could taste it and feel it coursing through his veins. He would never be able to drink anything else again—not after this taste of perfection.

Zero drank deeply and greedily, relishing the feel of his fangs in the neck of the one vampire he had craved. Kaname's virgin neck was even more thrilling when Zero hazily realized that he might be the first to ever pierce such unblemished perfection. That was good. That was wonderful. It was his right. He felt the bundle of pent-up emotions rise up to his throat in a tangled ball, choosing to leave his body in the form of hot tears that spilled down his cheeks. The whimper sounded again, this time, with desperate fingers clutching at his back, raking soft trails of pleasurable pain up and down Zero's back as Kaname wordlessly entreated him once more, squirming in the comfortable grasp of the hunter.

Adjusting his grip on the pureblood, Zero tipped his own head to the side, one hand sliding free of the pureblood's waist to catch hold of the dark-haired head and guide it to his own neck, the unmarked side.

* * *

><p>The pureblood practically shivered with need, his flushed body warming even more as Zero paused in his drinking to growl softly again in reassurance.<p>

Trembling lips pressed soft kisses along the exposed, unmarked skin of Zero's neck, Kaname's hands tangled in the silvery hair as he gently sank his fangs into the supple, willing neck. It was a strangely stimulating feeling and shivers ran through the pureblood as he drank eagerly and contentedly from the proffered neck, a faint trilling sound welling up from inside him as he relaxed, comfortably into the warm arms holding him close and steady.

He liked this neck. He liked this blood. He liked it very, very much. There was no way he could return to tablets after something this sinfully satisfying. He had never dreamed that such sweet, rich blood could exist in this tortured world. The ache in his throat had long since disappeared, the blood-baying beast within silenced at the first taste of Zero's life-giving fluid.

_This_ was blood.

* * *

><p>Viktor silently watched the encounter between the two young vampires. A faint smile graced his snow-white features as he remained motionless, witnessing the first level of the required physical consummation of the magical spell, compelling the two individuals to complete their bond. It was a bittersweet scene to observe, sweet to see their innocence and trust of each other in the dream-like state the spell induced, bitter to know that it was the magical influence bringing their true feelings to the forefront and that their realistic reactions would be far less accepting and forgiving of what they were partaking of now.<p>

It was only a matter of time, the blueblood could already sense the fading bloodlust and he didn't want to prolong the mental hold on the two men in the dining room any longer than necessary. It was his sheer willpower keeping them at bay from entering the room and disturbing the necessary portion of the bonding spell. They would not be able to complete all the physical necessities now, but the blood-sharing had been completed and for now, that was enough.

It would have to be enough. He'd think of something else later, if the stubborn couple resisted each other. A smirk registered as he realized it might not be quite as boring to watch over the duo as he'd first thought.

Usually when cast, the caster and the joined couple would spend several hours in each other's company, strengthening and testing the bond in various ways, learning to use it and accept it and what it would mean for the changes in their lives. It also meant that the majority of the minimum two months assigned to joined couples would be spent in the bedroom—in more pleasurable activities.

It was one luxury that the two fragile hearts before him would not have. As much of an accident as it had been for the spell to be cast, Viktor could not deny that it was very well placed between the two recipients. He was curious to know the positions within the relationship as he had witnessed an usual balance and no fight for dominance between them, but that would have to wait for another time as he felt the anger in the kitchen building to an unhealthy level. It wouldn't do to have the hunters straining themselves over nothing.

As the one providing the power and the energy for the binding and the bond, Viktor reluctantly rose to his feet, preparing to return them to their original senses. He didn't really want to, even if they were hunter and pureblood, he held nothing against another's happiness. But there was still one last thing he needed to do, at least to complete his role in the first session of the binding—a blood mark. He moved quietly and carefully around them, lengthening one hand into the claws of his kind, he made two quick slashes, one on Zero's back, one on Kaname's

The couple twitched in each other's arms, but neither vampire bothered to disengage from their respective necks.

Viktor almost smiled. They were that deeply engaged with each other—and trusting enough to know that he was not a threat to them, at least not in that moment. He noted, pleased, that Zero's own tattoo was finally fading in—he'd accepted the bonding as well. That was good, it meant less work on his behalf and that his interference would most likely be unneeded in the near future. Viktor smiled as he took a fingerful of Zero's blood and quickly painted the characters of the boy's name along Kaname's spine. Once that was through, he repeated the action in reverse, taking Kaname's blood to print the symbols along Zero's back. The slashes had already healed and neither vampire seemed to have noticed. The markings he made burned from red to black and then faded into the creamy skin, disappearing from view.

With a chuckle, Viktor stepped back, watching them one last time before he turned and left the living room. He took the stairs leading up to the second floor and to the empty, spare guest bedroom the Chairman had. He stepped inside and cast three charms, one for protection, one for defense and another to mask his presence.

Whatever happened tomorrow, he'd deal with it.

As the blueblood who had been used to cast the binding spell, it was his duty to tend to the couple. As the blueblood awakened in his full capacity, it was his duty to find his mistress—and seek her will. With a weary sigh, the dark-haired boy pulled the blankets off the bed and laid them on the ground beneath the window.

Screw his duty. He was tired. A few hours of sleep would go a long way, as he rarely required more than mere two-hours to return his body to its usual state.

Wrinkling his nose, he cast a look at the neatly made bed. He hated sleeping on beds. Charms or not, it was always too easy a target. He also hated sleeping on floors, but worst of all, sleeping alone. It was always incredibly boring. He sighed, shifting uncomfortably and tugging the blanket to his chin. He'd find a bedmate before the next night, hopefully. Two hours. That's all he needed. If he was lucky, the furious four downstairs would stay there longer than that and he wouldn't have to search for them when the two hours were up.

The blue fire in his eyes dimmed and when he closed his eyes this time—all traces of the energy vanished.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ha. Poor Viktor, but at least he doesn't mind helping dear Zero and Kaname. Well, did ya like it? I hope so! I thought about drawing this scene out a little more, but it seemed fine where it is for now. Please remember that any OOCness is because of Viktor's influence, he urged them into the trance-like states to get them to complete the first level of the bond and coaxed them to give into some of their more private desires (e.g. Kaname not caring if Zero was the first one to bite him, Zero deciding it doesn't matter if the world ends as long as he can keep his hands[and fangs] on said pureblood). Their vampire sides took care of the rest. :P I'm writing a tad faster this week than I before, so new chappy should be coming up soon!  
><strong>

**Thanks for reading and please leave a comment if you feel so inclined! ^_^  
><strong>


	9. Chapter 9 : React To Me

**A/N: And the plot stuffs start up again. Yay! :P Thank you all SO much for the wonderful reviews and comments! It has helped me to keep writing through a rather difficult week (sometimes life just sucks) and I really, truly appreciate it. Special thanks to all my new readers as well and those of you who added this little fic to your fave/alerts. Thanks a bunch! ^_^ There's a little bit of KxZ in here and the story will start moving forward now that I've managed to give our lovely boys a moment. **

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies** and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This is an M-rated story and such themes follow in line. **

* * *

><p>Hakuma trudged up the wooden stairs in the exquisite mansion. He didn't normally mind visiting Asato, but sometimes the older vampire had a way of grating his nerves in the wrong direction. The elderly figure had recently taken to some sort of temper tantrum in a way that had complicated his life as far as extensive paperwork was concerned.<p>

Reaching the closed study doors, he tapped gently, twice, and then entered, knowing he was welcome, even if there was no answer. Asato stood at the far end of the room, braced against his desk, facing the large window, opened to the view of the approaching nightfall.

The white-haired vampire turned, a slender, fluted glass in hand, filled with a shimmering burgundy liquid. "Hakuma." He said, pleasantly. "Care for a drink?"

The vampire looked from the proffered glass to the smiling man. "What vintage?" He asked, at last.

There was a chuckle. "It is of no consequence, it is old enough that you would enjoy it." He poured another glass and handed it over. "Something the matter?"

"You could at least think of apologizing." His friend huffed, snatching the glass from the elegant fingers. "Do you have any idea how much paper it takes to clean up your messes?"

A chuckle left the older man's lips. "My apologies then." He said, smoothly. "I had no idea it was so troubling to you."

Hakuma's grip on the wine glass tightened considerably. "Drink your wine, Asato." He said, a faint edge to his voice. "And when you've had your fun, we need to talk."

"Perhaps." The standing vampire swirled the liquid in the half-filled glass. "Perhaps." He allowed. "It seems that Kaname Kuran is showing an interest in a common factor of the council."

The mediator stiffened and nearly choked on the blood wine. "What?"

"He sent my grandson to request a certain collection of books from my personal library."

"I…see."

"Do you?" The question was almost mocking. Almost. "It was the collection on Bluebloods."

The glass in Hakuma's hand snapped, cracking into several pieces as the red liquid sloshed and partially splattered everywhere. The vampire had gone unnaturally still.

Asato turned to him, a faint smirk playing about his lips. "Ah-ah, Hakuma." He said, the voice quiet and chiding as if speaking to a child. "Now who's made a mess?"

"Kaname…Kuran?"

"Here." The white-haired vampire offered a square of white cloth from the silver tray on the desk. "Yes, that Kaname Kuran. Is there something wrong with that?"

Hakuma swallowed, accepting the cloth and dabbing awkwardly at the stain on the front of his official mediator robes. "…a pureblood." He said, at least. "They don't believe in…it can't be…what is…what is he trying to do?"

"Read, apparently."

He glared at the older man.

"And perhaps educate himself while also entertaining that pureblood mind of his." Asato sighed. "He couldn't have thought too much into it, because he didn't send a cover story with my grandson."

A long moment of silence passed between them and Hakuma finally spoke. "Will you tell the council?" He asked, at last.

"What council?" Asato smiled, the expression fierce and devious. "They are already occupied with other more…pressing matters."

* * *

><p>Zero was quite happy when the annoying tickling along his back disappeared at last. While he didn't appreciate the temporary burn and tingle that accompanied it, the mild discomfort was easily pushed aside as he focused on more pleasurable things. Namely, the lovely, willing pureblood in his arms and how perfectly those wonderful lips meshed with his own.<p>

It was bliss on a popsicle stick.

The taste of the warm mouth was exquisite and exotic, a flavor the hunter had never tasted before. He lazily fought for dominance, teasing with his tongue one moment and taunting the next. The delighted shivers from his partner only intensified the experience as he gave into the sweetness of each moment, contentedly drawing out each kiss.

His slightly roughened hands skimmed easily over pale, sweat-slicked skin, caressing, stroking and exploring the sensual creature straddling his lap. Zero traced the contours of each arm, shoulder, back and neck as he traded kisses and breaths in a violet-hued haze. The feeling that this could continue on for possibly forever did not bother him in the least.

He liked it. It was nice. It felt nice. It felt beyond nice. He felt wanted, appreciated and…needed. He liked that very much.

The smooth skin pimpled with goosebumps and a faint whine came from somewhere near his ear. Zero gentled in his ministrations, wrapping his arms more securely—albeit possessively—around the shivering body and rubbed gently, coaxing some warmth back into it. Breaking away from the tempting lips, he trailed a line of kisses from Kaname's jaw down his neck to the end of his shoulder.

A pleasing flush of pink accompanied the tendrils of warmth spiking through the pureblood's body as the shivering eased, turning into pleasurable twitches and movements. Zero smiled, returning his attention to the attractively parted lips that simply begged to be ravished.

He couldn't help himself.

He didn't want to.

It was too good to pass up.

* * *

><p>The moment he could move, Yagari tackled the Chairman to the ground. It was a classic move intended to break whatever charm had been cast on them, but it ended in an awkward tangle for both men. With a huff, he extracted himself from the tangle of arms and legs, but remained secretly relieved to know that the older man was no longer under whatever weird spell had been there. It had been nothing short of torture for him, excruciating, complete torture, to be held there against his will and to know it had been done by a vampire that he could not fight—yet—anyhow.<p>

His hunter instincts had reared and resisted and there had been nothing he could do about it. Granted, he held the tiniest speck of respect for the blue-eyed Viktor, he hadn't thought the kid was capable of that sort of thing, but something in the way the Chairman's expression was changing led him to believe that it wasn't the first surprise he was in for.

"Kaien?" Yagari started after him, having barely managed to untangle himself from him.

The Chairman bolted from the room and came to an abrupt halt in the living room doorway. Yagari nearly plowed into his shoulder, stepping to the side and standing tall to see over the man's shawled upper half.

What he saw, the older hunter immediately wished he hadn't. It was the kind of scene he didn't think he'd be getting out of his head any time soon, even if his life lasted beyond a hundred years. From the ashen look on the Chairman's face, he had a feeling it was the same for his friend. There was nothing they could say at that precise moment in response to the sight that greeted them both.

Sitting on the floor in the living room, their arms locked tight around each other, Zero and Kaname were sitting comfortably intertwined, shirtless and—kissing. _Really kissing, like open-mouthed, tongue-twisting…Yagari_ shook his head. _No, no, no!_ He could not go there. He refused to go there. This had to be a dream. This had to be some sort of nightmare gone wrong.

The Chairman opened and shut his mouth several times, apparently speechless, his rich honey-hued eyes wide with surprise, horror and possibly a tinge of unease.

Yagari swallowed and turned around. He couldn't bear to look at that. He didn't dare. The blank, empty wall he now stared at did little to ease the rush of discomfort that had bubbled to the top. He was still seeing the image in his mind. It would take a while for that to fade away. There were many things bubbling up inside him, the majority of it angled towards a certain student hunter still in the clutches of a young, but rather powerful pureblood. The older hunter suppressed a growl—he'd eat him alive if that bastard had dared to lord his power over Zero.

"Toga?" The Chairman whispered, softly. "In my old age, have I-?"

Yagari swore.

* * *

><p>He tasted something delectably delicious, Kaname finally decided, delighting the feel of the soft, warm pliable thing currently plastered to his face. It was a very nice warm, soft thing. He liked it very much. It was quite pleasurable and very enjoyable. His eyes were closed and his mind had taken an instant vacation the minute this new bliss had started. He'd never tasted anything this wonderful in his entire existence up to this point. It was wonderful.<p>

The pureblood was lost in a sea of contentment—the kind of peace and security he hadn't felt in a very, very long time. He was vaguely aware that he was being held and caressed by strong, warm arms that cradled him close and that the softness on his mouth was probably a pair of delectable lips belonging to the wonderful person holding him so tightly. The soothing, comforting sounds coming from the one holding him was another added layer of pleasure as he melted into the embrace.

Whoever it was, they cared about him. He liked that. He liked it so much, he wished he didn't have to move—or breathe. Because breathing was a bit hard to do with his mouth so beautifully engaged that he forgot nearly everything else. He had dreamed of this sort of thing. Read of it in books, wished it would be his own bliss someday, but never dared to hope that it might really come through. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted from his weary shoulders, because to enjoy such pleasure, he'd given in to the one holding him—and hadn't fought it. The reward had been more than worth it and Kaname found that he didn't mind being the one that was held, cuddled and kissed.

No, in fact, he liked it far more than he could coherently express.

It wasn't giving up control, but rather, showing the extend of it. To give in was far more terrifying than not, but also substantially more satisfying. Kaname fairly hummed with pleasure. The thought of such complete trust sent a wave of coolness through him and he'd shivered, unable to catch the feeling and quell it for what it was worth. A hesitant moment of anticipation towards the person's reaction was completely unfounded, because the moment he shivered, a comforting sound had come from above and the arms holding him tight had shifted to hold him closer.

Desirable warmth had flooded through him as the lips broke off from his to plant a warm trail of kisses along his neck and shoulder, favoring each square of skin with a soft, sucking sensation that made his toes curl in delight. This wonderful person knew just what to do to make everything return to the lovely violet-tinted haze.

By the time the masterful lips had returned to claim his own, Kaname felt as if he were on a completely different plane of existence. It was that good. He rocked forward in the embrace, pushing himself even closer to the warmth and security surrounding him. The warmth of their bodies began to rise as hands rested possessively on the bare flesh, occasionally stroking, sometimes scrabbling, but never, ever releasing.

The lips caressed, teased and claimed his own in a strange, sensual dance.

Kaname breathed softly as the magical kiss broke, feeling an immediate sense of loss. It was nice. It had been nice. He wanted it to continue. Instinctively, he leaned forward again, nuzzling his face towards the warmth only to feel the arms holding him stiffen and suddenly grow slack.

An overwhelming feeling of dread washed over him as Kaname willed his eyes to open. His senses were rushing back to him and he was suddenly aware of one thing—a very familiar scent and the pressure of watching eyes. That wasn't good. He growled low in his throat, eyes snapping open, ready to rip apart whoever had dared ruin the moment only to find himself staring into wide, horrified amethyst eyes.

Zero.

Zero Kiryu.

_Oh. My. Fang. _

The girlish statement didn't even register with the touch of embarrassment that began to blossom inside of him. Kaname decided at that particular moment that he must be dead—and somewhere else in his death, because there was no other logical explanation for why he was sitting half-naked in the Chairman's living room—kissing and hugging a very familiar, silver-haired hunter. That couldn't be right at all. It just couldn't. There was no way on earth he would ever, ever be caught in such a compromising position, much less in a liplock with an ex-human of all people!

Kaname swallowed hard, a faintly pleasant aftertaste lingering in his mouth.

A too pleasant aftertaste in his mouth. He mentally pushed that observation to the side. He'd deal with that later, right now, he wanted his mind to work. No, needed his mind to work. He _needed_ out of here—fast!

He licked his lips and saw Zero do the same.

Their eyes moved of the same accord searching for the telltale puncture wounds at the neck, the proof that would confirm their worst nightmares. There were none there. Kaname swallowed. That was a short-lived relief, because without warning, they sprang away from each other, Zero glaring daggers at him and Kaname beginning to feel like a caged and trapped animal. His pureblood instincts for survival were rushing to the forefront and he knew his patience had reached his limit. Whatever had happened—whatever was happening—would probably have to wait, his body was beginning to react in a way he hadn't thought possible.

Because even as he retreated as far away from the ex-human as he could, his body was arguing with him to the point where a physical headache had begun to form. Even as he tried to tell himself he despised the being before him, every cell in his body was crying out for the silver-haired vampire to reach out and claim him—in more ways than one.

Definitely in one particular way that Kaname refused to acknowledge.

A rush of heat streaked through him and Kaname royally flushed from head to toe, struggling to keep the redness to a minimum and failing miserably. He couldn't recall the last time he'd been in such an embarrassing situation. Kaname Kuran did not get into embarrassing situations. It simply did not happen. Embarrassing situations ran the other way whenever he entered the equation—this was not good at all.

His mortification was short-lived in the moment when he saw Zero's head turn and his jaw drop. He didn't want to look. Oh, how he didn't want to look. But the expression on Zero's face could not be ignored. Kaname didn't like that. He wanted to know what it was that Zero had seen. What had bothered him to such an extent that he made that kind of face.

So he turned and looked.

Toga Yagari and Chairman Cross stood in the doorway staring at them with very different expressions on their faces. Yagari seemed torn between furious and betrayal, with Cross looking sorrowful and defeated. The air seemed to the freeze in the room as Zero tried to speak and failed, in the presence of his hunter teacher and self-proclaimed adoptive father. The pained expression that wove across his face tugged at the pureblood's heartstrings.

He hadn't known Zero could make a face like that.

He didn't like it.

_It doesn't suit him_. The stray thought teased.

And for the second time in that moment—Kaname Kuran wished he was dead.

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><p>Yagari was the first one to speak, somehow managing to swallow his blistering anger to form a calm sentence. "Kuran, you'd better hope to high heaven that you didn't make this come about." His dark eye glittered as it fastened meaningfully on Zero. "Anything you want to tell me, Zero?"<p>

The silver-haired hunter gave a choked sound from somewhere in his throat. He was almost shaking from anger, the very emotion having completely consumed him. "I-it's not what you think it is." He offered, unable to give a better answer. This wasn't just a mystery to them, it was a mystery to him too—he wanted to know what had happened and what exactly had been going on.

There were a thousand and one better ways to spend his afternoon—ways that had nothing to do with kissing and hugging a certain, very adorable pureblood standing just out of reach of his twitching hands. Zero swallowed hard. He wanted to be far away from here and any plane of existence that included Kaname Kuran. Yet, even as he processed those thoughts, his body began to whine and burn inside, physically arguing with him against leaving the delectable creature anywhere without him.

"Kaname-" the Chairman spoke softly, with a smile that did not quite touch his eyes. "Did you do this?"

With all the shredded dignity left, the proud pureblood lifted his chin in defiance. "Absolutely not, Chairman!" He half-hissed. "I would never lower myself to some degree of-"

Yagari snorted. "Looks like you were a little more than lowered, Kuran." He gave a bark of laughter and stopped. There was some humor to be found in the situation, but the elderly hunter would not play it out on his student's discomfort. Zero was turning a rather bright shade of red, especially as he fumbled through the clothes on the ground in search of his own shirt.

A warning growl was Kaname's reply.

Zero shivered visibly at the sound, flinching when the pureblood's burgundy gaze flickered towards him. The momentary discomfort was instantly overridden by a look of complete disgust and undisguised hate. "This is all your fault!" He snapped, jerking upright to his feet, unable to find a shirt in the pile of shredded fabric.

"My fault?" Kaname repeated. "And exactly how do you figure that out, Kiryu?"

"This—this….none of this would've happened if you hadn't shown up with—Yuki." The red immediately faded from the hunter's body as he looked around wildly for a moment, running his fingers rapidly over his body as if to hold something together inside of him. "Chairman, Yuki—she-"

"She's fine." The Chairman interrupted. "Nothing to worry about, Zero, eh, but…"

"Nothing to worry about?" Yagari repeated, rolling his single eye. "Funny, Kaien, because I dragged my butt all the way over here just because-" The hunter stopped in mid-sentence, the single eye latching onto the moving pureblood. "You aren't going anywhere, Kuran!" He ground out. "Not until we get some answers."

Kaname turned to look at him with the air of someone in power who had just been told they could not breathe without permission. He sniffed, disdainfully. "And if I should chose not to heed your…suggestion, Master hunter?" He demanded, icily. "Do not expect me to stand around here, half-naked in the middle of the night to answer questions that you cannot find answers to, simply because you feel like it. I would count that as gross abuse of your power and station as a hunter within the capacity at which you grace this peaceable academy."

The single eye narrowed pointedly. "and I would count your power abused and whatever, if you dared to try any of that pureblood junk on an innocent boy like Zero."

"Innocent?" Kaname snickered. "Far from innocent, Master Hunter." The laughter registered for a moment. "If only, you but knew." He murmured, half-heartedly, turning away to inspect the shredded fabric. "Because rest assured, I did not shred these off of myself. I had no need to waste excellently tailored clothing for an ex-human's whims." The barb was thrown with force, but the pureblood turned away as he felt a peculiar pain stab through his chest.

The blush restarted in Zero, springing up with new ferocity, his empty hands fisting at his sides. "Kuran, you-!"

"I what?" Kaname dared him, burgundy eyes glittering with the first hints of anger. "This has been a trying and difficult day, I should warn you, Kiryu, not to push me any further than this."

"Than what? Your petty threats and-"

"My petty threats? I do not make threats idly, nor do I make them without good reason and-"

"So you're threatening me, is that it? Something didn't go the way you wanted it to go in your perfect little world and you just had to take it out, didn't you? What better way than to humiliate an ex-human in front of the-"

"Stop it!" Kaname struggled to keep his concentration focused on the last vestiges of control. "You should not speak of that which you do not know!"

"I know a whole lot more than you wish I did, you arrogant-!"

"Silence!" Kaname's eyes fluxed red, the authority in his voice drawing immediate reactions from all present.

Zero flinched visibly, shrinking backwards from the oppressive aura beginning to overtake the room. Yagari swallowed a few times and the Chairman had taken a step back from the living room, into the hallway. No one moved or spoke for a moment, while the powerful vampire stood tall, angry waves flowing off of him in rapid succession.

The awkward moment lasted longer than any of them cared for it to, then the bright red faded, slowly-but surely—it faded away and then a very bored and very annoyed Kaname Kuran stood with his arms crossed in the center of the Chairman's living room. "It would seem, Chairman, that this is a bad time for this…discussion. If I may persuade you to postpone it until a better time-"

"No time like the present." Yagari sighed. "And so help me, you're excused from classes Kuran, you aren't going anywhere. Not until I get some answers-"

"Ask Zero then." Kaname said, haughtily. "You would have me believe that you would accept my word over his?"

Zero bristled. "At least it's not some-"

The Chairman cleared his throat, drawing Yagari's attention. "It could have been Viktor."

Yagari blinked, turning his expert eye back to the two glaring vampires in the room. The realization settled over him with belated horror warring for his common sense. "Viktor?" He repeated, taking careful note of the way the pureblood at the ex-human continued to silently rip each other apart with mere looks. "That perverted brat!"

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><p><strong>AN: ****Ahahaha. Viktor's a what? LOL! I'm glad everyone is enjoying his character. ****Ah, Viktor, Viktor, Viktor...however do you get yourself such a reputation? :P I hope this chapter delivered a bit of Kaname x Zero goodness as their real reactions to this encounter will come a bit later('cause they seem too tempered in this to me. Ha!) Not sure if I like how this chappy turned out, but I don't want to keep holding onto it for over a week just 'cause I've got issues with a few points. No fair to make y'all wait. Anyhow, no Yuki in this chapter, 'cause she's sleeping. Hmmm and as for Hakuma and Asato, eh? **

**(ooh, also, if anyone liked the TakumaxAido pairing, I've started a side story fic on how they first met titled: When Blue Met Green) **

**Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined. ^_^  
><strong>


	10. Chapter 10 : Headaches n' More

**A/N: I won't bore you with a long note at the top-I'll do it at the bottom and there's a little snippet for all of my wonderful reviewers! :P Thanks for reading!  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies** and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This is an M-rated story and such themes follow in line**

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><p>His head throbbed horribly.<p>

Kaname buried his face in his hands, wishing they would all shut-up already. His over-sensitive vampire ears were not helping the headache any, though the pleasant aftertaste in his mouth had hinted he'd found something to soothe the thirsty ache from earlier. He hadn't yet determined what the wonderful taste had been, but it had worked to sate his thirst and that was enough for the moment. He'd figure it out later—when he needed a mental puzzle to drive him insane, he reasoned, trying to coax his mind to continue reasoning in normal circles.

His body rebelled at the attempt to distract himself. It wanted things to go back to the normal, sane way they'd been. It also wanted to be back to where he'd been before they'd been interrupted.

The blush began to restart itself and Kaname was minutely thankful for the spare shirt the Chairman had lent him. Apparently, Zero had shredded the upper portion of his Night Class uniform beyond recognition, his own shirt in tatters, but somewhat more respectable. Kaname had adamantly refused one of the hunter's spare shirts. He would not have accepted the Chairman's offer either, save for the shirt offered still bore a price tag—an anomaly explained when Kaname realized it was the wrong size for the shorter man—and probably a gift from Yuki, the only reason the man hadn't done anything else with it. He'd shrugged into the smooth, dark brown shirt and immediately crossed his arms over his chest.

From there on out, the arguing had only seemed to get worse.

From what he could understand, Zero was being royally reamed out for whatever had happened. Between the Chairman's wounded interjections and Yagari's sputtering lecture, Kaname found himself wishing he were somewhere else. He was still rather ticked off at said ex-hunter, it wasn't exactly in his current circle of thought to add to the boy's misery. At any other time, he might have found the ex-human's discomfort to be amusing, but he had a feeling the two angry men were going to turn on him next.

He swallowed. He didn't want that to happen at all. Kaname Kuran did not put himself in situations that were to his disadvantage—and this was one of those situations. He sighed, raking a hand through his now mussed hair. He was feeling the weight of weariness returning to him, the urge to sleep manifesting itself as he realized he hadn't really gotten much rest at all.

In the midst of the bumbling lecture-slash-argument, a few words caught his ear and Kaname perked up. "I'm sorry," He said, smoothly, cutting into the conversation. "What did you say about a blue-eyed boy?" That detail had been too good to miss.

Both men stiffened, then exchanged a glance.

It was odd enough that Kaname tucked that detail away for later thought.

"That perverted blueblooded freak!" Yagari ground out. "It's all his fault, only he would've done something so—so-!"

"Then where did he go, Toga?" The Chairman interrupted. "Viktor said he meant no harm, but what he did and how he's left is a bit of a-"

"Then how else do you explain this? I mean, that…" Yagari gestured towards the two young vampires. "I saw it, Kaien. I know you did too—that isn't even…that doesn't." He choked and muttered something beneath his breath that made Zero's hands clench into fists. "He's behind this, he has to be! You mean to tell me that those…I…argh!"

Kaname frowned. "Viktor? Is that his name?" He could feel his vampire nature stirring faintly within him, the earlier impression to sleep streaking away at the thought of this new puzzle. There was nothing he could call immediately to his mind upon hearing the name, but there was the faintest twinge inside of him as if he'd just been told a secret of sorts.

Zero scowled. "Who are you talking about?"

The Chairman sighed.

"You're going to tell them?" Yagari fumed. "Kaien!"

"They have a right to know…Kaname-kun if no one else." The bespectacled man drew out a chair from the dining room table and slowly sat down. The angry fire had faded some from his eyes and he was now looking somewhat older and more composed than either vampire could ever recall. "Please sit down, Kaname-kun." He cast a glance to the side at Yagari, an unspoken request in his eyes. "And Zero, it seems there is something I need to tell you both."

The elderly hunter growled out a muttered response, but yanked a chair away from the table and sat down just the same, his weary glance skittering around the room, his shoulders hunched upwards as if expecting something to simply rise up out of the floor.

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><p>The more he heard, the more he didn't like it, Kaname decided. The more he didn't like it, the more he really wanted to destroy something. Something preferably large, ancient and irreplaceable. He'd managed to coax quite a bit of information out of the Chairman and as his pureblood mind began to connect the dots that only he could see, he didn't like it at all. He was beginning to wish he'd sent Takuma to retrieve the requested books personally—if only so that he could read them sooner.<p>

He'd heard of things like this, knew of them from some of the snippets of conversation he'd heard while living with Asato Ichijo. The man had been obsessed with supernatural creatures from centuries before and always spoke of them like reverent treasures to have in one's possession. Kaname had never put much purchase into the thought of another vampiric race in existence. There had never been any proof that he had seen to verify it and it seemed too good to be true. Far too good to be true.

The more he heard of this Viktor character, the more he was itching to expose the boy as the imposter he had to be. He had to. There was no way that such a thing could exist.

"Kaname? Kaname!" The Chairman's worried tone broke through the older vampire's musings.

"Hmm?"

"It's been almost two hours since we've last seen him, if there's anything-"

"For the love of all that is blessed in the land of the dragon, pray tell me, what have you against the notion of sleep?" The angry exclamation came from a short, black-haired boy with very white skin. He was dressed in a white silken shirt, neatly buttoned and smoothed, sturdy black jeans tucked into comfortable black boots. The detail of this particular outfit was the dark blue, metallic belt cinched at the waist—it accurately resembled a fat snake—swallowing its own tail. Bored blue eyes roved around the dining room, settling on each figure in turn and then the boy raised a hand to his mouth and yawned, the only indication that sleep still clung to him. "Ten minutes." He grumbled. "A simple ten minutes and I would have absolutely nothing to compl-"

"Viktor-!" The Chairman exclaimed as Yagari leapt from his chair and surged forward.

The interaction was virtually seamless.

Yagari was an experienced hunter and the blue-eyed boy made no attempt to dodge the painful tackle that floored him. He merely stared up at the ceiling, his expression turning to one of complete disgust.

"Wonderful." Viktor drawled.

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><p><strong>AN: Short chapter *sigh*, I know, I know. But what y'all don't know is that the semester has started up for me again. LOL. New semester = zero writing time at the moment. Updates will be a tad slow in coming, but shorter chapters = faster updates. So maybe there's a balance I can work with, until then~thanks for reading!**

**Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined. ^_^ **

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><p><strong><span>NOTE:<span> The 100th reviewer will receive a plot bunny. Erm, I mean, will be allowed to add a plot bunny to the fic. A tiny one. Such as, Make Kaname kiss Zero in front of X (or vice versa), or have Yuki walk in on something or the other. I don't know. You're welcome to be creative, but as long as it doesn't mess with my original plot (certain things intended for certain characters!) I'll slip it on in. Just a treat for my wonderful readers who have taken the time to leave reviews/comments/suggestions and everything! I really appreciate! ^_^  
><strong>


	11. Chapter 11 : Uncharmed

**A/N: I haven't officially returned from hiatus as yet. Things are still ridiculous, but I am cleaning out my harddrive to better handle some of the changes and figured I'd post what I already had. This chapter is terribly short and my apologies for that. I hope to write more soon. Thank you for all the PM's and well-wishes. My health is much better and the family drama is subsiding somewhat. I hope you all enjoy this new (albeit, short!) chapter.**

**Thank you to everyone who took the time to review and add this little fic to their fave/story alerts. I truly appreciate ite!  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies** and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This is an M-rated story and such themes follow in line**

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><p>"Begging your pardon, Master Hunter." Viktor's blue eyes flickered faintly with a hint of blue fire-energy. "If I could just have a moment to explain myself-"<p>

"You'll do all the explaining-!" Yagari growled out, straddling the now squirming figure.

"I don't feel like it. My heart is loyal to one. My apologies, I refuse." Viktor shot back, his hands moving up to push the older hunter away from him. "Get off me!"

"Stop moving!" Yagari caught the boy's hands, twisting his arms together and holding them. "Whatever you're blathering on about can wait!"

Viktor twisted, attempting to push the man backwards and failing. "This is not part of our agreement." He shifted, struggling as the hunter drew out a charm and held it to his chest. "By the Dragon's name." He hissed. "Don't do that. Please don't do that!"

"Hold still!"

"I really wouldn't do that if I were you." Viktor tried to untwist his arms, a flicker of worry flitting across his lovely pale face. "It'll only cause more trouble and you won't like it very much."

"Actually, I think I would." Yagari muttered the invocation and released the hunter charm.

The reaction was instantaneous.

A red seal of energy was visible—projected from the dangling charm and attempting to latch onto the blueblood below. The boy in question, merely turned his head to the side with a look of longsuffering on his face. A spark of blue energy leapt from his chest, forming a larger seal with intricate printing—glowing a bright blue as it countered the charm.

The aftershock threw Yagari away and brought a wince to Viktor who was pressed deeper into the floor as a result of the impact. With some difficulty, both figures stood, glaring balefully at each other.

"I warned you." Viktor snapped, rubbing the back of his head. "Humans. Hunters. You're all alike—so incredibly dense! Whatever did you have to do that for? I didn't do a thing, and if I did, please do excuse my bad manners if I have somehow interrupted something important. That was not my original intent."

"Original intent?" Yagari sputtered. "All of you vampires are all the same! What did you do to Zero? Was it fun? Taking over his mind and turning him into some sort of a freak for your perverted fantasies?"

"I didn't do anything." Viktor scowled, his blue eyes flickered briefly to the silver-haired hunter. "He looks fine to me and I didn't lay a hand on him." His eyes narrowed. "What fantasies? Excuse me for being a member of the-"

"This is Viktor?" Kaname interrupted, his flickering garnet eyes focusing on the newcomer. "This is the boy you spoke of?"

Zero rose from his chair and now stood somewhat in a flanking position to his master's left. He'd started when Viktor had first entered the room and something akin For a moment, his pale lilac eyes darkened a few shades and then brightened as if in recognition. "You-!" He started forward.

Viktor eyed him warily.

Yagari elbowed him back. "Stay back, Zero—and you too, Kuran!" He coughed. "I've had it with all of your nonsense, you-!"

"I'm sure he has a good reason-" The Chairman tried.

"Don't-!" Viktor said, warningly, holding his hands up before curling his fingers downward to form claws. As he did so, he subtly shifted, sliding one foot backwards, settling his weight in a peculiar way and stance. It spoke quite obviously that he had experience in at least one of the deadly martial arts, by the calm, collected way he held his hands. "Please." He said all he needed to without having to explain. There were some things he was allowing—because trust was a necessity, but he was not about to let them take advantage of him without a reason and without a fight. "I have not the patience for this." His voice was cultured and lilting as when he had first arrived. "Not now nor at any other time—make this the last."

Yagari coughed again, one hand moving towards his heart, the baleful glare fixed on the pale-faced boy. "What did you do to me?" He coughed again, the faintest tinge of pain showing on his features before smoothing away to nothing.

"Sensei!" Zero was on his feet, between the one-eyed hunter and the blue-eyed vampire. He scowled at the newcomer with every ounce of hate he'd learned. "What are you? What did you do to-!"

"I'm fine, Zero…get out of the way!" Yagari struggled to straighten, reaching for his student, eye fixed on the blue-eyed boy. "What did you do to me?"

"I didn't do anything, that was entirely your own stupidity." Viktor held his stance. "I told you not to do it. You didn't listen to me—no one ever listens to me and I do not speak because I enjoy the sound of my own voice. I simply have a point I wish to make." He scowled. "And you have a very strange way of showing your affection, of which, I am entirely undeserving of, I am sure. I think you owe me an apology."

"Don't hold your breath!"

"I'm not and don't do that again. Ever. I'll rip your head off the next time you try it."

"As if you could!"

"Whether I can or can't isn't the issue. What is with you people and noise? I am not deaf! You were all making so much noise, I couldn't sleep…" One hand ran through his thick, black hair. "I couldn't sleep at all, a mere ten minutes and I could've-"

"Sleep?"

Kaname moved forward, planting himself before Zero, Yagari and the now-grumbling Viktor. "This is the Viktor you spoke of, Chairman Cross?"

"Ah, yes, Kaname-kun. Viktor, this is-"

"Who or what are you and what is your business here?" Kaname spoke as his pureblood aura flared to life, filling the room with an oppressive air.

Yagari grumbled and Zero muttered something in reply. The Chairman remained motionless at the table.

Viktor yawned, making no attempt to hide the action as before, his blue eyes challenging as he regarded the taller vampire standing before him. "Before I answer that, I would have to know who or what you are." He tilted his head towards the others in the room. "I know those two are retired hunters. I know that one is a hybrid."

"I asked first." Kaname said, evenly. His garnet eyes flickered to a brighter shade of red.

"…and you are hiding what you are."

Smooth, pale fists uncurled, Kaname's outward physical appearance beginning to shift and change, morphing into something slightly more seductive and definitely more relaxed. His burgundy eyes glittered meaningfully. He was ticked off. The response was something akin to cultured terror—instead of flying into the expected rage, he would simply gather the darkened energy around him and project it in a way that was far more terrifying and a thousand times more effective. "And you still have not answered."

The blue eyes flickered with disinterest. "Viktoriqen Allemaunde, pureblood, royal class. Level nine ranking, hailing from the northern quadrant, from the royal clan of the snake. Guardian Type. I serve my mistress and her alone." A thin smirk settled on his face. "And in case that was not obvious enough…I am a blueblood. I trust that means something to you?"

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><p><strong>~*~*~*~Thank you for reading!~*~*~*~ <strong>

**Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined. **


	12. Chapter 12 : Night Terror

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who took the time to review and add this little fic to their fave/story alerts. I truly appreciate it! Special thanks to everyone who commented last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one! Not a lot of dialogue, but I'm working out plot points. Please note this story will take some time to develop. I hope you stick around for it, enjoy!  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies** and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This is an M-rated story and such themes follow in line**

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><p>"Henri?" Thessica pushed the door open to the research lab, drawing the thin shawl tighter around her bony shoulders. It was more for modesty's sake than warmth and vanity more than modesty. The pureblooded vampire stuck her head around the corner, reaching out with her extra senses to make a mental note of all who was present.<p>

The blond playboy noble was nowhere in sight and she didn't mind in the least. Entering the lab, she nodded occasionally to the researchers that dared to look up and meet her piercing gaze. She paused at a few of the workstations, to gauge their progress and see if anything new had been learned.

There was precious little to add to what she already knew, but that was fine for the moment. Strolling to the end, her fingers flew over the keypad at the large, locked door and punching in the correct code, she stepped through into the restricted area.

The sight that greeted her was gruesome enough to turn the most strong of stomachs.

But Thessica was a pureblood and a fairly old one at that, in spite of her beautiful countenance.

She merely threw a cursory glance over the tall, clear tubes fastened from ceiling to floor and the torn, mauled bodies floating suspended within them. It seemed like a family, two tall, imposing figures and five smaller ones of varied gender in the thinner tubes around them.

Thessica wrinkled her nose in distaste, turning her attention towards the large computer screens adorning the opposite wall. She didn't care for what was in the tube, only what information was gathered from them and from the still incomplete processing, she could tell there was much more to be learned.

A faint sigh left her lips as she realized with regret, that while it may have been a significant discovery and very good to have as a credit to her name, she would much rather have kept the whole thing under wraps.

If they really were Bluebloods… She thought, musing in remembrance of the bodies. If they really had been, she wouldn't have subjected them to such indignities of vampire science…no, she'd have spared them…and gorged herself on the mythical delicacy. It would've been a beautiful thing—and it would've cured the twisted features that made up her face.

It had been a Vampire-Hunter charm gone wrong. She'd paid the price for it, with a fraction of her immortal youth—and as such, the signs of age had rushed to the forefront. The age that betrayed her when her very being was barely more than a young girl in a woman's body. Thessica sighed. No, that wasn't really correct, she was no longer a little girl, but it was enough to hold a grudge. Her mature looks had found her a decent lover and paved the way for other things.

Casting the charm had taught her a rather important lesson and it had sealed a position of power and wealth for her future. Something that she had to admit was necessary. It had been a very long time since she'd cast that mistaken charm. Long enough that it no longer mattered. She sighed again, simply because it was the easiest way to express her current state.

She hadn't seen Henri for the day as yet and tucked that note in the corner of her head for later thought. That was unusual in itself, Henri was almost as interested in the entire Blueblood myth as a certain Asato Ichijo. The frown that danced over her face brought a few wrinkles to the furrowed brow as Thessica mused through her thoughts. It had seemed too much like a fantasy too far out of reach.

The kind of fantasy that hadn't existed.

But in the forefront of her mind, there was one particular image that lingered in her mind. One image that had yet to fade. The furrow in her brow grew deeper as Thessica stalked out from the observatory walls. She headed for her office, needing the solitude and privacy it offered. She hoped her workers would have a sizeable stack of updates waiting on her desk and that it would be enough of a distraction to keep her mind focused on the main goal.

A goal that seemed to pale in comparison to the memory.

That blasted memory.

Thessica shuddered.

In her mind's eye, she saw the girl, the last one of the house of Nozaen, standing, trembling with fear as Henri approached her. Things had begun to fly about the room due to the pressure of so much vampire energy being carelessly thrown about. The girl had stood in the center of the room, never moving from her post, though fear radiated from every pore of her being. She'd pleaded with them to stop.

Henri had laughed.

Thessica shivered, unable to help herself. There was something about the entire incident that hadn't sat well with her since she'd witnessed what happened next.

Henri had asked a question the girl had refused to answer. He then cited it in proper legal accordance of the Supreme Vampire council and then he'd killed her. Her blood was thick, rich and red.

The house had exploded in flames.

She'd had to scramble to protect them from the vicious fire and in doing so, had lost any chance of sampling the girl's blood. Henri had been sure to express his disappointment, but Thessica had reminded him how narrowly his own death had visited. He hadn't said a word since. But she agreed—there something about the girl that literally made her ripe for the taking.

It should've been horrible—but somehow, she didn't think it had.

* * *

><p>The shadows in the dorm room played across the walls.<p>

Yuki stirred faintly beneath her covers, her troubled sleep growing more restless by the second. She twisted and tangled in the sheets until her body grew unnaturally still as it processed the night terrors streaming behind closed eyelids. A gasping cry left her lips as her breath began to come in soft, rapid pants.

Yori wakened almost at once. She had grown finely attuned to a certain dim-witted brunette's sleeping patterns in the years they'd been friends. Yuki was having a nightmare. Another one. Yori's hands fisted in the bedcovers as she turned her head to the side, watching her friend fighting a mental battle. She'd once tried to wake the girl up, but it had never quite worked out well.

Yuki was too empty-headed to give into the fact that she'd had a nightmare and Yori, well, there wasn't much she wanted to read into that. Her chest throbbed painfully as she watched the other girl growing worse by the second. It was almost too much to watch, but she couldn't look away. She knew she couldn't. If Yuki were to somehow hurt herself when she was only inches away...

The covers flew back as Yori slid out of her bed and closed the gap to Yuki's bed. The expression she'd seen on the other girl's face hadn't been the kind that she could ignore. "Yuki?" Yori began to shake her shoulder. "Yuki-chan…wake up, it's me."

Frantic arms flailed around wildly, before Yori caught them in her own, pinning them to the brunette's side. "Yuki!" She repeated, more urgently. "Wake up. Please wake up!"

"K-kaname!" Yuki sobbed out, hot tears beginning to spill out of the corners of her eyes, the nightmare refusing to release her. "Kaname-sama!"

Yori stilled, her grip tightening on the younger girl's arms. _It's always Kaname, isn't it?_

"Zero! Save him!" Yuki cried out. "Save him…save me…Kaname…Zero!" The tears grew to hysterical proportions and Yori had it.

"Yuki!" She shook the girl as hard as she dared. "I'm not going to say Ginger Stir-Fry! You have to stop this-!"

A hiccup, a cough and then the flailing stopped.

Yori waited, watching with a sudden heaviness falling over her as Yuki stirred from sleep to the realm of the waking.

"Yori-chan?" Yuki coughed, twisting in the arms that had held her down for a moment. She winced. "Ow…I…wha-?"

"Nightmare." Yori said, softly. She scooted back to sit on the edge of the bed, her own hands returning to her side. "Are you alright now?"

"A nightmare?" Yuki blushed in the dark. "Er, um, I'm sorry Yori-chan! I didn't mean to disturb you. I'm so very sorry!"

"It's okay." Yori eyed her, waiting.

An awkward silence registered.

"Goodnight?" Yuki tried.

"Goodnight, Yuki." Yori slid off the bed, tipping her head slightly and backing towards her own bed. She turned around and crawled under the now cool covers. _Goodnight, Yuki…sleep well this time…_

* * *

><p>Zero stared at the blue-eyed freak standing just a few feet away from the Headmaster's kitchen. He didn't know what to think and for once, he didn't really want to think. Something about the newcomer rubbed him the wrong way in a very deliberate sense. He hadn't missed the exchange between his master and Viktor and he hadn't liked a single second of it.<p>

Master Toga had cast a powerful hunter charm meant to level a noble vampire. Zero had seen it. He knew which one it was. He knew what it should've done. He saw Viktor shrug it off and glare daggers in their direction, brushing himself off with a wounded air of someone who was having a bit of fun at an idiot's expense. He didn't like that feeling.

It didn't sit well with his hunter self.

It didn't sit well with his Vampire self.

A low growl registered at the base of his throat as Zero turned his attention to his master. Whatever the Viktor-freak had done, he'd managed to counter a charm that shouldn't have been countered. In doing so, he seemed to have done something to the older hunter. Something that Zero was beginning to feel rather uneasy about. He didn't appreciate Viktor's next choice of words about shared affection.

He bristled visibly, but the supposed Blueblood didn't even flinch.

_No proof_. Zero thought, grimly. He wouldn't believe any of it, not unless there was proof and proof for the proof itself. Yes. That was it.

It would have to be a trick. It had to be.

There was no conceivable way that—a streak of blue slashed through his vision and Zero swallowed hard. He could recall voices, blurred images and a sudden soothing sensation spreading through his entire body. An involuntary shudder coursed through him and Zero struggled to quell it. He felt Kaname's eyes flicker briefly in his direction and it brought an immediate scowl to his face.

_Stupid pureblood. _

This whole stupid mess was his fault.

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><p><strong>~*~*~*~*Thank you for reading!~*~*~*~ Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined. I read every review and I truly appreciate your encouragement. ^_^ <strong>


	13. Chapter 13 : Enter The Butterfly

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who took the time to review and add this little fic to their fave/story alerts. Your reviews are treasured and appreciated. **

**Congrats to Spiritmind765-for winning the plot bunny. ^_^ **

**bloody child: I couldn't message you, so to explain Viktor's cryptic words to Yagari, he was just being cute and sarcastic. Especially because to him, generally you don't bodily tackle someone to the floor-straddle them-and then attempt to blow their head off. :P  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies** and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This is an M-rated story and such themes follow in line**

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><p>Onstage before thousands of screaming fans, Ranella blew kisses to her faithful audience, with cheerful waves to the adoring public as she strolled off the brightly lit stage. Her cluster of suited bodyguards shielded her from the more ardent fans as she was shuttled towards a waiting limo amidst the flashing of newspaper cameras and high-pitched screams.<p>

It had been a good show. She'd sung well.

In the limousine's darkened, quiet interior, the curly-headed blonde yanked off her wig to show a thick mane of chocolate-brown waves. She threw the wig into the lap of the bodyguard across from her and tugged her fingers through the thick strands. "My head is positively throbbing." She scowled. "Throbbing. Where to next?"

"Cross Academy." The skinny guard swiped a few fingers across his tablet. "There's two concerts for the school, two different times."

"What time?" Ranella mopped her forehead with one sequined sleeve, allowing the bodyguard nearest to her to help with shrugging out of the tight-fitting stage jacket. "Ach. That was a full house and a loud show." She mumbled, more to herself than the silent guards. "How far is this Cross Academy and is there anything I should know about it?"

Someone answered her from the far end of the limo and Ranella combed her fingers through her hair and began to twist it into a functional braid. "I see. Thank you, Jennings." She sighed. "My feet hurt." She muttered, turning to the guard on her left and shifting to lie down, her head in his lap, her feet swinging up from the floor to rest in the lap of the other guard. "Be a dear, would you?"

The suited guard silently removed the flashy heeled shoes and began to rub the small white feet in slow, expert motions. He warmed the toes in the palm of his hand and then ran his hands meaningfully over the joints and tendons, large fingers working their magic on the tired feet.

A quiet gasp left the coral-painted lips and Ranella gave a low, satisfied moan. "Ah, that's good…right…there…ah!" Her head lolled to the side. "I swear, my feet are killing me." She heaved a sigh, wriggling for a moment to find a more comfortable position on the leather seat. "I swear, I'm never doing three of those back-to-back again. In fact, I'm never going to-" She broke off in mid-sentence and suddenly grew rather still.

For a moment, a hushed silence seemed to fill the car and then the suited fellow to her left, gently touched her elbow. "Miss?"

The color drained from her creamy face and her hand caught hold of the guard's squeezing tightly. "I-I'm fine, Kensley. Just…a little surprised at something, that's all." She smiled, warmly. "It's nothing to worry about, really and truly. Hand me my plugs, would you?"

Another suited guard drew out a slender, golden trinket box from his jacket pocket. It was handed over with a respectful nod, set in the outstretched arm that waited for it. With a wave of her hand, Ranella took the box, sliding the top open and shaking out two bright, blue stones, barely the size of the tip of her pinky finger.

She smiled again, handing them to the guard currently serving as her pillow.

Warm fingers gently pressed one stone into her available ear, waiting as Ranella turned her head to the other side to allow access. The second stone was inserted and Ranella twisted back to her original position, stifling a yawn. "Wake me when we get there." She mumbled, rubbing her neck, absently. "Not a moment before that and not for any other reason short of my hair being on fire, understand?"

There was a chorus of answers in the affirmative and the pop icon settled down, her eyelids drooping. "Kensley, your jacket." She wrinkled her nose. "Do I always have to remind you?"

The guard in question had a faint smile on his face, having already shrugged halfway out of the jacket in question. He leaned forward in his seat to drape it around the slim shoulders and Ranella pulled it up beneath her chin as her body slipped into the sleep it craved.

* * *

><p>Yagari didn't know what to make of it.<p>

No, actually, he did know, but it seemed to be too much of a headache, so he didn't quite bother with all the fuss. It was easier to simply brace on the wall and watch the showdown taking place. If the blue-eyed freak was all that he claimed to be, then they would certainly need Kuran's assistance in bringing the bastard to his knees.

Everything about Viktor simply rubbed him the wrong way. It didn't make sense and it didn't seem right.

And of course, apart from the fact that he could freeze people where they stood with his freakish blue eyes, Yagari had yet to see the kid do anything remotely vampiric. Even with Zero, he could see the boy's fangs every now and then and the bloodlust he'd seen in his eyes earlier left no doubt that his hunter apprentice was every inch the vampire a certain vengeful pureblood had ensured.

Viktor didn't even seem to have fangs. His eyes seemed to do more talking than his mouth and when he did speak, Yagari had the impression that the kid was speaking a foreign language.

A flash of white in the corner of his eyes showed Kaien Cross struggling to allow the meeting that was taking place before their very eyes. Kaname's vampire aura had returned in full force and now threatened to crush anything and anyone present in the room.

Viktor merely sighed.

Yagari felt the headache pounding through his veins multiply with the simple expression. From all that he knew of the kid so far, Viktor had a knack for saying the stupidest things at the worst possible time. A tinge of unease coursed through him as he recalled casting the charm and the reaction that had followed.

He still couldn't understand it. The charm had been powerful enough to take down a high-ranking noble. If it didn't kill or knock him out, it should have at least caused some irreparable damage.

Yet, Viktor stood several feet away, calm and unruffled as if there was nothing to even be excited about. He winced, for a moment and Yagari immediately tucked that detail away. It was the first reaction he'd seen out of the new vampire—at least in regards to Kaname. He didn't like it.

Purebloods were supposed to be the strongest, the most powerful in the realm of bloodsucking leeches. Kuran was one of the most powerful ones he'd met in person—granted, there were more, but Yagari had a feeling they didn't hold much on Kaname Kuran. The garnet-eyed pureblood always seemed to be holding back in the moments where Yagari knew he'd used his powers.

"Master?" Zero's worried voice cut through to him. "Are you alright? What happened? What did he do to you?"

Considering that Zero was actually taking the time to inquire of his health rather than charging at either of the present vampires was a testament to strangeness that Yagari wasn't sure he could handle. His apprentice had suffered from one of the worst attacks of bloodlust that he'd seen in the boy yet.

Something had happened.

The madness had drastically receded and from the clarity in his pale, lavender eyes, Yagari knew that the blood baying-beast within was safely quelled, at least for now. The only way he could logically explain that would be that Zero had fed. But there wasn't anyone nearby that would have allowed the hungry hunter-vampire hybrid to have a 'drink'.

The image of the pureblood and his apprentice in the living room flickered through his head and Yagari struggled to banish it at once.

He didn't want to think about that. It suggested too many things that he was not ready to accept. Kuran was definitely the very last person who would allow Zero to 'taste' if at all.

Yagari shook his head again. Too many things to think about. Far too many things.

"I'm fine." He said, gruffly, brushing away his apprentice's concern. There were more important things to deal with right now. The strangely aching pain in his chest would have to wait. It couldn't possibly be anything serious and in all honesty, he'd felt worse before. Most of the time it had something to do with Cross's bad cooking, but at the moment, it was under control. He had a feeling if someone didn't do something soon, one of them might spontaneously combust from the sheer tension. "Cross?"

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><p><strong>~*~*~*~Thanks for reading.~*~*~*~* Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined. <strong>


	14. Chapter 14 : Nighttime Secrets

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who took the time to review and add this little fic to their fave/story alerts. Your reviews are treasured and so very appreciated. Apologies that it is taking so long to write. I've come down with a cold this week and that has thwarted my best efforts to write faster. :(  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies** and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: Contains YAOI/YURI. This is an M-rated story and such themes follow in line.  
><strong>

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><p>"Did you get the books?" Aido yawned from his corner in the car's backseat. "I was starting to wonder if-"<p>

"Hmm. Yes. Move over." Takuma slid another stack of books along the car's floor, frowning. He hadn't imagined there were this many when Kaname had said 'go fetch'. He also hadn't expected his grandfather to hand them over so willingly. There was definitely something off there.

"Taki…." There was the faintest hint of a whine in Aido's voice as the sleepy vampire pouted at him from across the books between them.

"Could you put your feet on the seat, Aido? The books would fit better if you weren't taking up so much-" Takuma stopped at the look on his lover's face. It was somewhere between a scowl and a pout, with a slightly darkened tint that promised a frosty ride in the car all the way back to the academy. The older vampire stifled a sigh, keeping his smile dimmed for interior comfort. "Never mind."

Carefully sweeping them off the seat as Aido pulled his feet up to hug them to his chest, Takuma stacked the books along the floor and then sat back, just barely in time before Aido stretched out on the seat, wriggling to get comfortable, his upper half deposited on Takuma's lap. The pout remained. Takuma adjusted the books with one slight poke of his foot, then sat back.

If he moved anymore, he'd probably end up dumping the curly-headed blond onto a few sharp pointed bookends. That was certain to cause issues. Another glance downward showed that Aido wasn't anywhere near as sleepy as he'd been a moment ago. Takuma met his blue-eyed gaze with his own steady one. A warm moment passed between them.

With a slight huff, Aido sat up, adjusting his position to sit on Takuma's lap. His arms slid around his lover's neck and he nuzzled the side of exposed neck. Takuma's arms slid around him, supporting him as he shifted to be more comfortable himself. He returned the favor, pressing soft, lazy kisses to Aido's cool cheek. "You're cold." He murmured.

"Then warm me up." Aido snuggled close, a yawn escaping.

"Didn't sleep enough?" Takuma teased.

Aido nipped his ear lightly. "And whose fault was that?" There was a hint of annoyance in his voice. The hands holding him close began to move in soothing, warming motions up and down his back in a lovely rhythm. He gave a soft sigh, the irritation already fading. "Did you get them all?"

"Yes, Grandfather was most…generous."

Aido snorted. "Sure."

This time, Takuma smiled. "He was." He said, softly. "He wasn't there to meet me in person. So he couldn't complain."

"Then how'd you get them?" There was puzzlement in the sleepy voice as Aido began to relax, his body growing slack.

"I called his cellphone. He said it was fine and opened the room for me. I had Thatcher help and that was it."

"I could've helped."

A kiss was pressed to his cheek. "I know. I didn't want you in there, that's all."

"Mmmm."

"I'll wake you when we get there."

* * *

><p>In the privacy of the darkened interrogation room off to the west of the main laboratory facilities, a certain pureblood was enjoying his newest liberties with his latest toy. The scent screamed human, but the eyes spoke otherwise.<p>

He was tempted.

He was oh so tempted.

But he was careful.

He could have all the fun in the world, but he had to be careful. The beast inside of him sang with everything that he did to bring himself closer to a taste of her blood. Thessica had spelled the girl and immediately afterwards forbidden anyone to sample her blood.

The witch had done it to drive him mad. Henri was almost sure of that. Every fiber of him seemed to scream for the delicious fluid rushing through her veins and yet it remained as the one thing he could not have.

So he took it out on her.

The unlucky girl who'd happened to stop by the Nozaen Main Estate. The girl who'd stood frozen in horror as she watched them burn it to the ground. The girl who'd been unable to run away as fast as her friend. A friend that they'd also been able to track and hunt, but remained unable to retrieve. Henri had taken the unlucky one and Thessica had been given custody of the other.

Two little girls.

Little, at least, to him.

Every few centuries he'd find one like this one. One that made him sing inside. One that reminded him that there was more than blood and glory to be had. One that seemed to challenge him with their very silence. He'd searched for ones like this. There was something about this girl that he couldn't put his finger on, but he wanted to change her.

He wanted to have her by his side for all of whatever eternity was. There was something in her eyes that made him come alive. Something that made him want to rip her apart and claim her for his very own.

But she was so stubborn.

He'd hurt her. He hadn't been the least bit gentle in any way, but she'd never protested. She'd never complained. She'd never given him any sort of reaction. She was perfect.

She didn't want anything to do with him.

So he'd had to try and change that.

But sometimes his temper got the better of him. He'd been trying to change that for several hours now. For a human, she was rather well-built and holding up better than he'd expected. It had been several weeks since the Estate had burned. Things had been busy. He hadn't had time to devote to his precious little girl—but now, things had quieted and he had time.

A choking sound caught his ear and he immediately released the pressure his vampire aura had conjured. It wouldn't do for her to lose consciousness now. He intended to have a full night of fun and it would be boring if one little episode took the fight out of her.

Henri smirked. He made a mental note to let Thessica run a few more intensive bits on the girl. When they'd taken her prisoner, she'd had a small, Indian hatchet, with braided cord and colored feathers. The only reaction he'd ever seen from her had been when they'd taken it from her. For a moment, she was almost like a madwoman. Screaming, crying, shouting and struggling until Thessica had sedated her to be sure that she didn't hurt herself.

That reaction had been mesmerizing. Henri had tried ever since to recreate that sort of a reaction in the mostly silent girl. Even showing her the hatchet again, giving it back to her and attempting examine the hatchet itself, had been rather fruitless. But his mind wouldn't let it go. There was something more to it. There was something more to her. He had to know. He had to know who she was. Had to know what she was.

Had to know what she was doing to him.

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><p><strong>~*~*~*Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined!~*~*~*<strong>

**A/N: Plot stuffs...I'm working it out. Thanks for the suggestions. ^_^ I'm glad y'all are enjoying the story. **


	15. Chapter 15 : Wrench In The Wheel

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who took the time to review and add this little fic to their fave/story alerts. Your reviews are treasured and so very appreciated. **

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><p><strong>This is a subplot arc-bear with me, the POV hops will make sense in the following three chapters. (and there'll be some action! *no, I won't say what kind of action...just, action*) :P<strong>

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies<strong> and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: Contains YAOI/YURI. This is an M-rated story and such themes follow in line.**

* * *

><p>When lights started flashing Henri found himself growing rather annoyed. He was enjoying himself with a certain, short-haired redhead and her uncanny ability to make him laugh. The poor thing claimed she knew nothing of whatever he asked and would really rather be set free than to endure this company—set free as in death.<p>

That, Henri found to be infinitely amusing. For that reason, he was not in the best of moods when the warning sirens and lights began flashing along the top ceiling bars of the private laboratory. "Thessica!" The name was growled beneath his breath as he turned away from the girl shackled to the wall, her body limp and battered now hung forward in the absence of his hands to hold her up.

But now he couldn't focus on those delicious details. Thessica was sure to come running in a matter of minutes and he'd have to deal with her headache. For a moment, everything in the room seemed to cringe in on itself as the unchecked aura ran its course over the delicate instruments present. He scowled.

He didn't have to wait long.

The woman in question burst through the door scarcely a few minutes later, with her entire being fairly radiating with rage. "Henri!" Her voice was a near roar. "How dare you!"

"Dare I what, precious?" He took a few steps away from one girl and towards the now irate lover standing before him. "What is going on?"

"What is going on?" She sputtered. "Don't you know? Don't you ever pay attention to the things that I tell you? What do you think is going on? Exactly how much of my army did you mobilize for some stupid-"

"Excuse me?" Henri's attention was successfully captured in the following few minutes of conversation. He scowled darkly, when the angry vampire finally calmed down enough to speak to him in coherent sentences. "Now hold on just a minute here." He interrupted. "It was half of your idea to follow her, you never told me to-"

"Follow, Henri, _follow_!" Thessica raged. She turned on her heel and stomped out of the room, beckoning to him to join her in the hallway.

He did, with a glance of longing thrown over his shoulder to the abandoned plaything dangling from the wall. "Whatever the case is now, it is no longer my problem. You deal with it. I have more important things to do-" He was cut off when a clawed hand rested rather meaningfully on his shoulder.

"Do you now?" Thessica snarled. "Do you really? Do you have any idea how long it has taken me to build up so many under my control? To be able to command them at will to do whatever I desire? And I give you one chance, one single opportunity to make yourself useful and you take all my hard work and throw it away as if it is just as worthless and you will be."

"Milady!" The young vampire assistant skidded to a stop before the couple and offered a hurried, breathless bow. "We've been able to turn some back and from the direction we can follow, the target is approaching Cross Academy and the others are following."

"Cross Academy?" Thessica heard her voice sound rather small. "_The_ Cross Academy, Marta?"

"Stop them!" Henri grabbed her shoulders, giving a shake for added measure. "If they get into that academy and ruin everything that I've worked for-"

"You? What you've worked for?" There was a note of hysterical laughter in her voice as Thessica made no move to pull away from his painful clutches. "And what about all that I've into this? Do you have any idea how much raw energy I had to put into-"

"Get a grip, woman!"

She jerked away from his holds, albeit a tad unsteadily. "A grip, yes?" Her accent filtered through. "You know something, Henri. You are cute, but not that cute." She straightened her silken blouse with a definite huff and then turned her disapproving gaze to the trembling assistant. "And why exactly are you still standing here? Do you not know what must be done? Do I have to explain myself every single time some little-"

With another bobbing bow, the Marta sped off at vampire speed. Thessica watched her go with the faintest of smiles now beginning to show at the corners of her mouth. "Have your fun, Henri." She sighed. "Perhaps you might actually get something useful done for a change."

"Now look here-!"

"Actually, dear, I'd rather not." She started down the hallway. "You have your prisoner…and I have mine." She paused just out of sight. "And Henri? The research you've been keeping for me, I'd suggest that you see it is on my desk by morning or I will do something about that new…toy of yours."

* * *

><p>Ranella stirred in her sleep as the car jolted on a particular patch of rough road. She grimaced, waking with slight difficultly, blinking uncomprehendingly at the darkened interior. "Kensley?"<p>

"Here." The bodyguard's voice was warm and reassuring.

She blinked a few more times, her fuzzed vision clearing. "Thank you." Her soft voice was barely heard in the limousine. "Where are we now?"

"Not far." Jennings spoke up.

"I asked Kensley, not you, idiot." But there was no bite in her voice as the sleepy diva sat up, rubbing her face and pinching her nose. "Ugh. I feel horrible. My neck is killing me. Remind me to tell you to fix my neck and not my feet next time. My feet, I can handle, my neck, not so much." She yawned. "How long was I out?"

"Not even an hour."

"Really?" Puzzlement showed in her face by the way of frown and her furrowed brow. "I guess we are making really good time. Think anyone noticed?" She turned, angling to the side so the bodyguard could reach her shoulders.

"I doubt it." Kensley said, staunchly. "Your work is invisible." He began to work his gift on the tight, muscled shoulders and neck. "This isn't good for you."

"Ha. As if I don't know it already." Ranella chuckled. "Thank you, Kensley. How about the others, are they keeping up?"

"Jennings?" Kensley gave a nod.

The tinted windows lighted by several fractions. "They haven't even lagged. They've been following since we left the concert venue." Jennings's eyes flashed a faint flicker of violet, as he seemed to follow something that didn't appear in the blurring scenery.

"Any leads?"

"No call backs to whoever is controlling them." Jennings closed his eyes, the tinted windows returning to their original shade. He bit his lip, but didn't speak.

Flickering eyes zeroed in on the action at once. "Spit it out, man." There was a touch of annoyance in her voice. "Honestly, I don't know what to do with you. Were you always this useless?"

Jennings looked away. "I only meant to ask if you were sure, but that would be questioning your word and authority, so I refrained."

"And then you blurted it out just 'cause I asked. Right." Ranella sighed. "Yes, I know what I'm doing. Of course, I know, if I didn't, I wouldn't be sitting in this car. I'd be in goodness who knows where, doing who knows what." She tugged the messy braid free from its confines and began to run her fingers through the wavy curls. "If we're almost there, then I need you all to listen up. We're only going to have one chance at this and I want it done well. If there are any mistakes, then I swear, heads will roll and I will enjoy it."

Tense silence filled the car.

With a huff, Ranella jerked away from the massaging hands. "Oh fine. It's another Viktor impersonator...imposter, whatever you want to call it. It's just cleaning house, alright? Nothing to worry about. Besides, don't you lot always come out of these things better than I do?"

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><p><strong>~*~*~*Thanks for reading. Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined.~*~*~*~<strong>


	16. Chapter 16 : First Attack, The Approach

**A/N: This is a subplot arc-bear with me, the POV hops will make sense in the following two chapters.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies<strong> and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: Contains YAOI/YURI. This is an M-rated story and such themes follow in line.**

* * *

><p>A faint tingle whispered through the ear, bringing the faintest hint of a frown to Seiren's face. She shifted, from her careful perch just outside of the Cross home, her vampire senses flaring off wildly. Something was approaching from somewhere.<p>

Someone—no, someones—were approaching from somewhere.

Her head cocked to the side as she drew on whatever talents were available for her. She'd followed Kaname when he'd suddenly bolted from his room in the dorms for the Chairman's personal quarters. Knowing him as she did, Seiren merely followed along. Her hackles went up, however, when the door was answered by a vampire she'd never seen before.

He pulled Kaname inside and shut the door firmly afterwards.

Shut it with an old seal of vampire magic so she couldn't follow behind.

That had been the first trigger that something was terribly wrong. No specific sights, sounds or smells had come her way since and she'd found a position outside that promised an advantage if it were necessary to make herself useful. The loyalty bond between her and the pureblood was still present and that was enough for her.

She stayed where she was, without complaint. Kaname could call her if he needed her and as far as she could sense, he was in no immediate danger—even if she disapproved with his current company. Her lips quirked faintly without settling into any kind of expression. She drew her smartphone from one pocket and tapped away at the screen for a few minutes.

It was confirmation for what her advanced senses had already told her. She could read the security monitors from the Cross Academy—the ones she'd set up—and she didn't like what she was seeing. Dozens of little red dots swarming over the set boundaries for the academy and swiftly approaching the house. The pace was faster than any normally traveling creature and the dots were sporadically increasing as she flicked her way through the information screens.

This was bad.

_Kaname-!_

She reached out to him, touching, feeling, hoping for a response. There was no immediate answer.

Seiren hesitated for all of a split-second. Her very existence was to protect Kaname Kuran at all costs. It didn't necessarily mean that he had to know all that she did to bring that reality to life.

With vampire speed, she blurred from the front of the Cross residence back to the Moon Dorms. Help could be found there, if needed, and from the buzzing of the phone in her breast pocket, Seiren had a feeling more hands would make light work.

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><p>"Have you seen Aido?" Kain stuck his head through the library door to see Shiki, Rima and Ruka as the sole occupants in the wide study room. His bushy eyebrows arched upwards into his spiky hair and he stepped fully through the door to stand inside. Kaname's inner circle lounged in their usual after-class places. Shiki sat at the table, Rima sat on the table, feeding him pocky. Ruka stood, bracing against the table. A pile of textbooks sat in the center of the table behind them, but the vampires didn't seem to be interested in studying.<p>

"Hanabusa?" Ruka repeated. "He's not here."

"I thought he might be here…" Kain hesitated.

"He's probably off with Takuma." Ruka preened her fingernails. "He usually is. Come in?"

Shiki shrugged when the questioning garnet gaze settled on him. "Takuma was working on something for Kaname-sama. I haven't seen him."

"Ah." Kain made his way over to the table and settled in the chair that Rima kicked out for him. It was starting to bug him just how much time his empty-headed cousin was spending with a certain un-vampire-like vampire. When Rima offered him a stick of Pocky as a matter of course after Shiki, he accepted the sweet treat. "None of you have seen either of them?"

"Stop worrying, Kain. He can take care of himself." Ruka huffed. "He's an idiot, a genius, but still an idiot. He can take care of himself."

"Mmmhmm." Rima hummed agreement.

"Any word on why class was canceled?" Ruka perked a brow. "It's got to be serious. First a substitute and then no class at all. I hope they aren't going to cancel tomorrow's concert as well."

"I hope they don't cancel it either. I was looking forward to it."

"Really?" Ruka perked up. "I thought you'd seen her before—in modeling I mean. Doesn't she model too?"

Both Shiki and Rima shrugged. "Never seen her up close."

"Ah." Ruka half-smiled. "Should be interesting then. It gets a bit boring."

"I'd hardly call today boring." Kain said, quietly. "For class to suddenly-"

Shiki blinked, slowly. Rima frowned, apparently not liking what that particular detail meant. She handed her lover the box of treats and turned to face the other two. "It must be something serious." She volunteered, interrupting the red-haired vampire. "Something for him to disappear." Her pretty brow furrowed into a visible knot.

Kain found himself nodding in agreement. He could take that either way, but either way it fit. Whether it was Kaname or the one-eyed hunter, Yagari, it had to be something big enough for one or both of them to be missing. He'd searched the Moon Dorms and hadn't caught sight of their esteemed pureblood, a certain empty-headed cousin, or a perpetually smiling vampire.

He didn't like that at all. The logical part of his mind rebelled at the very recollection of the last time something like that had happened. Nothing had gone over well for any of them and in fact, it had ended in the sort of way that had left them all clutching towards the strings of life in their eternal existence. No, Kain decided, he didn't like that all.

"So…" He began. "I have not seen Takuma, Aido or Kaname-sama." He frowned, waiting for the implications to sink in.

The sight was almost amusing when it did.

Shiki sat ramrod straight, his dark eyes flickering dangerously, the box of pocky half-crushed in his hand. Rima had stiffened at once, one hand reaching out to rest on Shiki's shoulder and a fierce pout registering on her model face. Ruka pushed away from the table, a scowl overtaking her pretty features as she reached up to tuck one wavy curl of hair behind her left ear.

It was a habit she couldn't break when something was bothering her and she wasn't about to explain it to anyone.

A faint tremor rippled through the air and Kain stiffened along with them. There was something off there. There was definitely something off there. He could sense it more clearly now and he had most definitely just felt it. "Ruka…?"

"I felt it too." Her words came quickly, her voice hard. "Akatsuki-"

"Something's happened." Kain was up from his chair and towards the library door.

The others were behind him in a heartbeat.

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><p>Seiren reached the Moon Dorms in time to sense that no one was there. Of course, she only paused to take stock of the fact that the ones she sought weren't there, but were on their way. She darted back to the crossover gates to intercept them. It didn't surprise her to see Kain already searching for her form when she appeared in front of them.<p>

"Seiren!" The name burst from his lips.

She waved it aside with a simple look. "Intruders. All along the Academy lines."

"Kaname-sama?" Ruka had to know.

"Is fine." Serien's dark eyes narrowed faintly. "Can you feel it?"

Shiki stilled. "Yes."

Rima immediately moved closer to him, resting one hand on his shoulder. She knew the bored expression on his face and the single word was saying more than he ever would. But she didn't say anything to that, she didn't need to. Whatever was needed of them, for whatever reason, as long as it was for Kaname, there was no question to it.

"Takuma and Aido-" Kain began.

A faint growl came from Seiren's throat. She wasn't listening to him any longer. She could feel Kaname's confusion and his first reactions filtering through their loyalty bond. It had been virtually silent for the past few hours, but now it sang of everything she hadn't felt from him in quite some time.

Then he called.

She felt it as a humming whisper singing through her veins, begging her to come at once. She blurred away without another word to the others.

Ruka stared after her. "I-!"

"Let it go." Kain touched her arm. "I can feel it now—I don't like it."

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><p><strong>~*~*~*~*Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined.~*~*~*~*<strong>


	17. Chapter 17 : First Attack, The Cost

**A/N: This is a subplot arc-bear with me, the POV hops will make sense in the following chapter. My apologies for the barrage of OC's, but I need expendable characters and I'd rather not kill off the VK cast-again, my apologies. This will smooth out very, very soon!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies<strong> and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This fic contains YAOI/YURI. This is an M-rated story and such themes follow in line.**

* * *

><p>In the prepared room Marta had hurriedly readied for her, Thessica strolled to the center of the floor and checked the powdered lines completing the complicated pentagram on the floor. She was careful to hold her skirts above her ankles as not to disturb the carefully laid elements. Time was running short in the kind of way that she didn't like.<p>

But just because she didn't like it, didn't mean that she couldn't handle it. Lifting her chin, Thessica made her way to the drawn circle in the diagram and stood tall, her hands resting at her sides as she sucked in slow, sweet breaths.

It had been a mild surprise to know the girl had moved. She'd spotted her as the Nozaen house had burned to the ground. The girl had stood, frozen in fear, standing beside a friend as magicked flames had consumed the entire estate. Thessica wasn't surprised when both girls had run. She wasn't surprised to find that they were human. There was something off about their entire physiology, but she wasn't about to complain.

There was nothing she couldn't figure out with a little time, science and magic. It would work out. It always worked out—at least, for her. The girl had run and run until she'd reached some kind of civilization. She'd schemed and lied her way into the kind of position that Thessica had almost admired her for. The position of a public entertainer was popular enough for a human, but this girl had managed to do rather decently.

That had been the first hint.

She couldn't have been human.

There was absolutely no way she could possibly be human.

And now…now, it seemed that it was all to come crashing down. She'd grown tired of trailing the girl's every movements. Her time was better suited to working in the laboratories and filtering through reports to sift out the useful information. She was happier there. So Henri had inherited the pleasure. He hadn't minded.

But he'd begged for help.

Begged.

He'd claimed the Senior Council would have his head if certain things got out. So Thessica had granted him one favor. A one-time favor. She'd allowed him access to her spelled practice. A significant number of noble and common vampires, enough for a small army—a mere fifteen thousand. There were others she could turn at a moments' notice and other options, if it ever came to the point where she had to use them.

She'd been content to control them. To pull a string somewhere when necessary, to see the desired result where it was supposed to be.

But Henri.

Thessica's hands tightened into fists. Her one moment of weakness was exposing her to the very fright she'd attempted to spare him. If the Senior Council got wind of anything remotely threatening headed for the peaceable middle ground of Cross Academy, there would only be a painful end in sight. They'd made it clear that nothing was to be done while a certain Kaname Kuran made his home in the dorms and surrounded himself with the proper high-ranking company of noble classmen.

"Stupid, stupid pureblood!" She hissed. This was half of his fault. Before he'd become so bloody independent, a certain Asato Ichijo had been content to live a normal life like the rest of them. But then times had changed and the blood he'd expected was no longer available in the way it had once been. Kaname Kuran had grown considerably—a late bloomer—with his mind finally working in the way a pureblood's ought to and his natural instincts surging to the forefront.

She'd been there. She'd seen some it. A faint shiver ran through her. The boy was no ordinary pureblood, but no one else seemed to share that view, but her. The cold feeling of dread began to wash over her in repeating waves, causing a cold sweat to break out as she forced herself to think and to think quickly.

She had to stop her little army before it reached the academy and if it reached, then she had to cut them loose—as many as she possibly could. Once her spell over them was broken, the chances of anything tying back to her were practically nil. Of course, once her spells were reversed the chances of any possible altercations were also significantly lessened, as she'd always chosen her subjects to be sure they were the most unlikely candidates for violent encounters.

It meant she could practice her charms to her heart's content. It also meant that very thing might save her neck, if it didn't all work out in time.

Thessica sank her fangs into her wrist, tearing at the flesh viciously. For what she was about to do, blood was required. She'd have to undo the enchantments.

Spells that she'd cast years ago. Spells that she'd never had to recant. Spells that might have grown over time.

Henri.

This whole thing was a mess. In a handful of minutes all her careful planning was falling to pieces. That idiot Henri. She'd show him. Why he didn't even think that she could fix this. She'd seen it in his eyes. She'd also seen the same echo of condemnation in the Elder Ichijo. He'd written her off too. Well, she'd show them. She'd show them all. So what if he'd managed to use his favor as one command? So what if those spelled idiots were about to upset the balance of human, hunter and vampire in one fell swoop?

Thessica swallowed hard, closing her eyes, the bloodied wrist falling to her side as she began to murmur the necessary chants to call the old charms to life.

She felt her own gifts flowing out from her body and activating the powdered lines on the floor into strips of colored flame. This was going to take some time. Good enchantments always took time. She hoped it would work fast enough.

"Marta?" She called, eyes still closed. "I know you're out there."

"Milady?"

"You said only some of them had…listened. Which ones were left?"

"W-which ones?"

"Never mind. If you can't say their names, then I know who they are. Tell them I said to go and fix things."

"But-!"

"Go, Marta. I have more important things to do. There's three of them, yes? They won't lay a finger on you, just order them to where I want them to go!"

With a puff of annoyance, Thessica turned her concentration on the now glowing, burning medallion on the floor. She sighed, frustrated.

Sometimes, a girl just needed more options.

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><p>When the phone rang from the corner of the room, Hakuma silently cursed the object's ability to shatter all semblance of peace and sanity he'd managed to gain in the space of a short afternoon. His inhuman instinct compelled him to answer it, but politeness demanded that he defer that right to the current head of the house—a brooding Asato Ichijo in the overstuffed armchair across from him.<p>

The man had remained rather unresponsive and bored in the wake of his grandson's visit. Hakuma didn't understand why, as it had been the Elder Ichijo's choice to avoid meeting his grandson directly, a fact he'd managed to pry from the stubborn idiot.

The phone continued to ring out, with neither man moving.

With a huff, Hakuma drew himself up from the satin couch and answered it. A furrow began to grow in his brow as he listened silently and then slammed the receiver down, turning on his friend. "Did you know?" He snapped. "Did you have any idea?"

"Hmm? Who was it?"

"A girl named Marta. She seemed to think that you would be interested in knowing that there is a sizeable number of vampires from all ranks approaching Cross Academy in a rather unnatural pattern." Hakuma frowned. "She seemed to think that I would tell you and that you might do something about it. Is there anything you would like to tell me?"

"Ah, Marta. Sweet girl, isn't she?"

"Asato…"

"Now, Hakuma, what could I possibly know about that? Why, it doesn't even make any sense." He steepled his fingers, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "It doesn't make any sense at all. I didn't think they'd send anyone there."

"Send them where? To Cross Academy? Did you order them?"

"Of course not." The elder Ichijo rose to his feet with a miffed expression on his bearded face. "Really, have you so little faith in me?"

"Knowing you as I do, that should answer your own question."

"Make another call, won't you?"

"Asato…!"

"Very well then, I'll do it myself." From the pocket of his dark slacks, Asato retrieved a cellphone and dialed one number. He smiled at the voice that answered on the other end and a few words were exchanged. The call ended and he tapped out a few keys before he snapped the phone shut and replaced it in his pocket.

Hakuma stared at him. "You called the Hunter's Association?"

"Those…runaways are not mine. I have no control over them, nor do I want to be the one controlling them." He smirked. "My darling grandson attends the academy, surely you wouldn't want me to sit back and let something happen to him. How would I ever live with myself."

"Just fine, I'd imagine." Hakuma growled. "What are you playing at?"

"Absolutely nothing." He tilted his head towards the door. "Aren't you late for somewhere?"

"Who sent them?"

"Hmm?"

"You know who sent them. That's why you're standing there and smiling like a-"

"Like a what, Hakuma?" The elder Ichijo stood inches away from his face, the perfect smile never wavering. "Like what?"

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><p><strong>~*~*~*Thank you for reading. Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined.~*~*~*~<strong>


	18. Chapter 18 : First Attack, Alert!

**A/N: This is a subplot arc-bear with me, the POV hops will make sense in the following chapter. My apologies for the barrage of OC's, but I need expendable characters and I'd rather not kill off the VK cast.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies<strong> and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This fic contains YAOI/YURI. This is an M-rated story and such themes follow in line.**

* * *

><p>The Chairman knew better than to interrupt.<p>

A sense of déjà vu settled over him as he watched the two vampires squaring off in front of him. Viktor had relaxed his defensive stance considerably, but the half-smirk on his face could definitely be interpreted as defiance. In fact, the Chairman knew better than to read it as anything but a challenge. From the conversations he'd had with the boy over Yuki's sickbed, he knew better.

He had a feeling something bad was going to happen and now it was happening in a moment where he felt completely helpless to stop it.

From the powerful aura currently demanding that he stay where he was and with his mouth shut, Chairman Cross knew that Kaname Kuran was very, very upset. The fact that he was still standing upright and breathing was a testament to his trust of the pureblood and his hunter instincts. Years of experience showed their due as he maintained his steady pose to the left of the vampire standoff.

He'd seen Kaname Kuran upset—a handful or times—but this wasn't any regular flash of temper—this was Kaname Kuran about to cleave the world in two to get whatever it was he wanted. For that reason—and that alone—Chairman Cross stayed exactly where he was and prayed that Yagari wouldn't interrupt. Whatever would happen next, there was precious little he could do.

On the bright side, it was good that it was all happening at night—and with Yuki as far away as possible, safely in her dorm room. A faint smile tugged at the Chairman's face and he struggled to squash the emotion before it surfaced in all its glory. Now was the very worst time possible to let his optimism swim to the surface.

Zero's whispering behind him drew his attention and he shot a worried glance at the one-eyed hunter, tempering it with a slightly warning glare in his eyes. Yagari glowered at him in response and simply gave a jerk of his head towards the vampire duo. "I'm fine." He said, gruffly, the hand never moving from its position over his heart. It seemed that Viktor had done something. "Cross?"

The Chairman nodded in agreement. He was fine. But the vampire duo before them all were anything but fine.

"…and I am a blueblood, if that means anything to you." Viktor finished.

It did mean something, though Kaname was loathe to admit it. In fact, he refused to accept it. He wanted proof and he wanted it right now. If this idiotic stranger was hell-bent on playing out some twisted prank, then he'd be sure He wanted something more than the too calm, too collected and far too dignified specimen of a human that stood before him. There was nothing even remotely vampiric about the blue-eyed boy standing opposite of him.

At the moment, his silence seemed to be annoying the proclaimed Vampire, so Kaname held his tongue. There was a rather perverse pleasure in knowing that there were some available buttons to press on this new complication in his perfect plans. He would have to handle this patience he didn't have and mercy he couldn't spare.

Oh the joys of being a pureblood prince.

The silence continued to hang in the air until Viktor snorted. "Has history fallen so low that we are nothing more than a mere myth to your kind? We simply choose not to meddle in troublesome affairs." He scowled. "Your turn, answer."

"Kuran." Kaname said, shortly. "Kaname Kuran."

Is that supposed to mean something?" Viktor shot back. "Please do excuse me, but I have been asleep for quite some time—ah, before this, I mean. I may have slept through all significant events that grant you a decent reputation. The Kuran I know of should be stronger than you—and I don't believe he ever had a son."

Kaname's aura shifted from pressure to a more malicious intent. It curved around the room's occupants and whispered through their ears, twining around their fingers and stirring with their very souls in the only way that a truly ticked off pureblood vampire could manage. "How very unfortunate." The practiced phrase was overly polite, meant to signal the beginning of verbal dance where two partners would endeavor to rip each other to shreds in the most socially acceptable way possible.

"Yes, so it would seem." Viktor straightened, assuming his full height. "Though that does answer who you are, but not what you are, assuming of course, that I believe you. Pardon my lack of manners, but what exactly are you, Mr. Kaname Kuran?"

A dangerous glitter flickered through Kaname's eyes. "I see no reason to explain myself to you."

"Ah, of course not. You are under no obligation and neither am I, at present. However, to be sure that we are on the same page, I would like to mention that I can sense that you're a pureblood, I can smell that you're a redblood, but apart from that I don't quite know what you are." He frowned. "That is why I am asking. I do not believe in needless bloodshed or blood feuds, but I am loyal to one who is." He sighed. "Then again, I suppose for this entire idea of humans-and-vampires to live peaceably together, it would have to be with the influence and direction of someone in power. Someone like you."

Kaname's glare didn't waver. "Why are you here? For what purpose?"

"You don't believe me." Viktor perked up, visibly. "You really don't believe me. I'm amazed."

"That wasn't what I asked."

"That wasn't what I was answering." Viktor countered. "Then again, I suppose that's fine. I don't really believe you and that would make us even." His brow furrowed. "And there's someone coming to the front door again!" He said, irritably. "It's nighttime by the dragon's name, how can you possibly have more things happening at night than the day?"

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><p>The Chairman started forward before he could help himself. He hadn't expected to find himself moving, but sometimes it seemed that the body knew what the mind needed. An immense feeling of relief flooded through him as he exited the kitchen and cut through the living room, aiming for the front door. A nagging feeling in the back of his mind had him wondering just how accurate Viktor's senses were and why.<p>

The boy had obviously sensed Zero before he'd made an appearance and from the interaction between him and Kaname, the Chairman found himself wondering exactly what the blue-eyed young man was playing at. From his conversation and manner, he knew enough of what was going on.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

Peering through the peephole, he squinted at a pretty blonde girl standing on the doorstep, adjusting her coat—and oversized suit jacket. Undoing the latches and locks, he opened the door.

"May I help you?"

"Chairman Cross?" The girl flashed a brilliant smile that didn't quite touch her eyes. "I'm so sorry to intrude like this. I didn't think I'd arrive this early, may I come in?"

He hesitated. "Er, well-"

"Ranella." She stuck out a hand, the smile never wavering. "You know, the pop star you hired for two concerts? I know I'm a few hours early, but I was hoping that it wouldn't be a problem."

The realization took a moment to sink in and then the Chairman found himself inviting her into the hallway. To ease the awkwardness, a few mindless snippets of small talk passed between them. She explained that she'd left the last concert venue earlier than expected, due to an equipment malfunction. She was now here earlier than before to be certain that everything was properly arranged and that there would be no problems.

She also had very soft hands.

That detail registered with the faintest stirrings of a blush as the Chairman yanked his hands free of her sweet hold. She turned to him, the smile turning more innocent by the second.

"Chairman Cross? You are Chairman Cross, are you not? You sound like him and I remember speaking to you on the telephone." She reached out towards him again, her head turning back towards the front door.

"Er," The Chairman tried. "I, uh-"

Without warning, the lovely girl suddenly crumpled to the floor in a dead faint.

"Hey!" The startled exclamation left his lips as the front door burst open to show a familiar vampire.

Seiren—and her eyes glowed crimson red.

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><p><strong>~*~*~*~Thank you for reading. Leave a comment if you like. It keeps me writing.~*~*~*~<strong>


	19. Chapter 19 : First Attack, First Sight

**A/N: And it's starting. Things are getting fun. ^_^ Thank you for the kind comments and faves/alerts. I'm glad folks are still enjoying this fic even though I can't write it fast enough to explain everything. There is method to my madness, honest! Please enjoy the read.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies<strong> and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This fic contains YAOI/YURI and is an M-rated story. Such themes follow in line.**

* * *

><p>"What is that?" Viktor nearly snarled. His agitation stirred the inherent vampire nature of both vampires present and set the one-eyed hunter on edge. His head began to shake from side to side and he looked as if he were caged and about to suddenly bolt. "I can't place it." His wild eyes snapped to Kaname's passive face. "Who is it? Is it one of yours?" A violent shudder ran through him.<p>

Kaname stiffened. He'd sensed something too, but apparently not to the extent that seemed to be driving Viktor up a wall. The unease he could isolate was easily identified as Seiren. Something was wrong and his ever-loyal shadow was attempting to fix it. The fact that she had allowed some of her intent to filter over to him was proof that whatever was happening was very wrong. All his pureblood senses had begun to sound off, one after the other and the rush of sudden presences flooded his mind as he managed to connect the dots.

The sound of something falling distantly and the Chairman's startled cry was all the incentive that Viktor needed. He blurred from the kitchen to the front room with Kaname streaking after him.

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><p>Zero tried not to stare at Yagari's hand over his heart. The grumpy hunter had said everything was fine, so he'd take his word for it—even though his entire body screamed at him that something was very wrong.<p>

His pessimistic premonition was clarified when Viktor suddenly bolted from the kitchen with Kaname right on his heels. A low growl welled up in his throat and Zero charged after them, his teacher hot on his heels. They came to a stop somewhere in a jumble in the entryway hall. The Chairman stood stock still, staring out the door and crumpled at his feet was a slightly familiar blonde face.

Zero felt a flash of annoyance as his hunter instincts kicked over and forced his vampire self to read the signs and react accordingly. "Chairman!" He leapt forward, shielding the headmaster as Kaname's low growl sounded in his ear as he blurred past him at vampire speed. The Pureblood didn't even pause, his shoulder brushing Seiren's with just the faintest touch of pressure.

An agonized cry caught his ear and Zero turned, half-expecting the cry to belong to Yagari, only to see Viktor crumpling to the ground, his rich blue eyes fading to pale blue as he saw the blonde girl crumpled on the floor at the Chairman's feet. He twisted, writhing in agony on the floor for several seconds before Yagari reached down an a spark of red made the vampire's body grow limp and slack.

"Sensei!" Zero didn't know whether he was relieved or confused. At any rate, he was glad to note that Yagari's hand no longer hovered over his heart. He was not happy, however, to accept the information that his vampire side was feeding him. From the look on his teacher's face, Zero had a feeling that the old hunter didn't appreciate it any more than he did.

"Kaien?" Yagari stepped over Viktor's body, moving towards the open front door, his shotgun was now in his hands and he cast a cursory glance at the blonde bundle at the Chairman's feet. "What happened? I can feel a…mob, forming out there."

"I-I don't know." The Chairman's voice was delicately soft, his eyes having taken on a faraway glow. "I opened the door and then…the eyes, Touga." He shuddered, visibly, on hand curling into his chest as if holding some invisible weapon close. "So many of them-!"

The animalistic snarls that ripped through the air suddenly brought the standing trio to life. If he hadn't been sure of it before, he most certainly was now. There were Vampires beyond eyesight with deadly intent. The sudden realization was nearly stifling. "Zero!" Yagari barked. Now was not the time to talk, it was time for action. "I've called for reinforcements. Get out there and take Left flank. I'll be right behind you-be careful!"

The silver-haired boy gave a stiff nod, his mouth set in a firm line, lavender eyes flashing with unreserved hatred. He was gone within seconds. Yagari sprinted after him, with one last look cast back to the Chairman, who merely shook his head, closing the front door firmly behind them.

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><p>"Taki….!" Aido whined. "Turn the light off already!" He nuzzled the older vampire's neck, licking fading puncture wounds in apology. His lover had gifted him another allowance to help him sleep, but now that the edge had been taken off his playfulness, Aido found his thoughts shifting towards more pleasureable things. The fact that his studious lover was quite studiously ignoring him did not sit well with the curly-headed blond. Especially the fact that he was sitting in said lover's lap, with his arms draped around his neck.<p>

"I can't believe you're complaining, Hana." Takuma calmly turned another page in the book, readjusting his lovely armful. He could see out of the corner of his eye that his adorable lover was pouting on a level that was nearly irresistible. "Really. You haven't got a single reason in the world to be-"

"But you've been reading the whole time!"

"You were the one who wanted to-"

"The whole time!" Aido repeated. "How can you just-"

"Would you prefer that I took you right here in the backseat?" A wicked smirk surfaced as Takuma finally tore his gaze away from the historical volume and fixed it on the comically wide blue eyes staring at him incredulously.

"Ehhh! Er, no! NO!" Aido's head jerked in quick, rapid movements, a rich, rosy blush spreading across his creamy complexion. "Absolutely not!" He added another shake for good measure.

"Remember something good?" Takuma teased, shifting to set the book down on the stack by his feet and burying his face in Aido's neck to nip lightly at the unmarked skin, knowing that the spot he'd chosen always reduced the younger boy to a mess of incoherent moans. For all his bravado, Aido could be terribly sensitive in the right places-especially if you knew which places to look for. "You know, I let you get away with this-" he sucked on the patch of skin, teasing it lightly with his fangs. "Because you ask for it so nicely with that-"

"Taki-!" The whine came out more of a moan. "Don't tease!"

"I can't help it. You ask for it so nicely, I can't possibly refuse you." Takuma tightened his grip on the squirming bundle, one hand freed enough to work its way up Aido's shirt. "You're the tease."

"Then…read…your…stupid…book." Aido squirmed deliciously as two familiar hands began to play with his body. One up his shirt and the other down his pants. Takuma was good like that.

"It's not a stupid book." Takuma kissed him lightly, deepening the gesture as he felt like it. "Kaname requested them. I just want to be informed on the subject so I can be of better help to him, if necessary."

"Ah…uh. That's good." Aido bit his lip. "I don't think I'll-" The hands suddenly stopped moving as Takuma stiffened, siting straight. "Taki?" No answer. "T-takuma?" Aido tried, hesitantly. He wriggled in the now slack grip, trying to get a better look at the suddenly frozen vampire. "Takuma!"

"Kaname…" The name fell from his lips, the vivid green eyes becoming rather narrow as the vampire's face paled considerably more than a healthy neutral for his kind.

"Takuma? Kaname? What happened to Kaname-sama?" Aido disentangled himself with record speed, his sole concern switching gears as Takuma's rigid body seemed to become nothing more than a shell. Aido nibbled on his lower lip, waiting and waiting. Relief came moments later when Takuma lurched forward, coughing. "Takuma!"

"Kaname…" The older vampire coughed out. "There's an attack…we're….we must be almost there, driver!" He yanked the partition open and began to bark orders through the small rectangle.

"An attack on Kaname-sama?" Aido bristled. "How dare they-!"

"No, on the academy."

Aido blanched.

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><p><strong>~*~*~*~*Thanks for reading! Your reviews are very much appreciated!~*~*~* ^_^<strong>


	20. Chapter 20 : First Attack, Confrontation

**A/N: Thank you very much for the kind comments and faves/alerts. (Special thanks for the well-wishes. My health has improved greatly since my last update and I am very glad for it). I'm also VERY happy to know that folks are still enjoying this fic even though I can't write it fast enough to explain everything. ^_^ Method to my madness, honest! Please enjoy the read.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies<strong> and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This fic contains YAOI/YURI and is an M-rated story. Such themes follow in line.**

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><p>Kaname brushed Seiren's shoulder on the way out. It was the physical contact necessary to leech all potentially useful information from her in the least intrusive way possible. It was the very briefest touch on her mind. If he didn't know her as well as he did, the slight way she stiffened as he blew past would've gone unnoticed.<p>

But he was a pureblood after all. Details didn't dare escape him.

She was right to come close to panic's threshold. Kaname found himself standing in the Cross's courtyard, the eyes of dozens fixed on him. It would've been disconcerting if he hadn't seen what Seiren had through the sudden mental patch. The Academy was crawling with them. Dozens of vampires in some state reminiscent of bloodlust.

He could feel them, every throbbing and beating heart, he could sense the sudden, irrational hunger, the call of the beast within for fresh blood. But there was something different about this state. Something strange, as if whatever had triggered them had overdone it in some way or another. This kind of wildness—Kaname had never sensed before.

A low-pulse telepathic wave was the first line of defense he threw outward. Normally, it wasn't his style to attack that way, but he'd caught scent of several approaching Night Class students. They were his usual inner circle and their worry was rather boldly telegraphed. He knew they were responding to his earlier tortured auras and that Seiren had sought them before coming to retrieve him.

He didn't care to explain anything and of course, he was a pureblood and therefore didn't have to, but when they leapt into the courtyard to join him, a satisfying feeling of pride settled over him. As far as he could tell, the vampires were new and focused only on getting towards the Cross mansion and the towards the Day student dorms beyond that.

At least, that was his projected route he could reason out of them.

They were crouched, growing in numbers, but making no immediate moves to start. From the treetops to crouched by the bushes and even to lining up in plain sight, the vampires were settling into a restless bunch, keeping the space between them the moment Kaname had come forward.

The pureblooded prince resisted the urge to draw blood. The dark side of him wanted to launch immediately into the presently nonexistent fray and let his mind and body go wild. All the restraint, confusion and recent embarrassment had built to a point where he simply had to let out some steam. It was dangerous to be like that.

Dangerous for them.

Kaname silently counted up to ten, willing his mind to empty and calm, drawing hard on his gifts to have every faculty he possessed at his disposal. Frustrated as he was, he could not attack without a legitimate reason. Not if he wanted to remain within the confines of freedom that he'd crafted for himself. To take his frustrations out on so many vampires would certainly draw the attention of both the vampire council and the Senior council, not to mention the Hunter Association.

It couldn't possibly end well.

Perhaps it could be resolved peacefully.

A delighted squeal came from a young woman who vaulted into the cleared ground between the Night Class students and the intruding others. Her hair was long and wild, her eyes blood red, the expression on her crazed face speaking volumes of uncharted insanity. The stark contrast to her crazed expression was the lovely attire of a high-class noble. The very sight set his hackles on edge as Kaname took advantage and probed into her mind. She was no Level E. Something was definitely off here in a way that was beginning to feel very, very wrong.

_Cease and stop this foolishness at once! Do you know what are you doing? _

"Hmm. Pureblood. We're not here for you. Don't interfere."

_How dare you think to order me? _Kaname returned, punctuating his displeasure with a stab of energy, drawing a cry from ruby red lips_. These grounds are native to my current residence. I dislike trespassers, but will overlook your insolence this once, if you leave now. _

"Leave? This doesn't concern you!" She shrieked, glaring at him balefully. "Get out of our way!" Her hands lengthened into claws, her fangs extending as she curled her lips back in a bold snarl.

Her fearlessness bothered him. Her face said one thing, her eyes screamed another. Kaname responded with a gentle tug on her life energies, tightening his hold on the fragile strands and pulling them taut. "Your presence here, concerns me!" The words left his throat with a grating note, loud enough for those present to hear and understand all that he did not say. "Leave now, lest you have come seeking blood." His fingers lengthened, claws growing out. "If that is all you wish, then that is what we will have."

The Night Class shifted restlessly behind him and Kaname's sensitive ears caught the approach of two more familiar signatures. Takuma and Aido. They were on foot and running with speed unhinged. A fresh wave of ire washed over him as Kaname realized that he could pinpoint every single vampire essence currently on Academy grounds.

The majority of them weren't students.

A flash of white alerted him to Takuma, followed closely by Aido, before the duo landed in the clearing, automatically taking up their flanking positions beside him. Takuma to his right and Aido to his left. From the gleam in Takuma's green eyes, Kaname had a feeling he'd seen something on their run in.

"Kaname." He spoke, his voice quiet. "They've surrounded the entire academy, they seem to be aiming for the Sun Dorms and here."

It was the standard kind of progress report he'd come to expect from the young Ichijo, so Kaname took his word as confirmation. A hot flare of energy exploded from the pureblood as his brilliant mind made a few quick connections.

One, they were outnumbered—sort of—two, Yuki was sleeping in the Sun Dorms and three, he hadn't gotten answers to the questions sprouted by recent developments. It was all beginning to really, really tick him off. "You…" It was the only thing he needed to say.

Aido's response was his fists icing over. Takuma cracked his knuckles. Kain ignited several wisps of fire and Ruka's scowl turned to a darkened glare. Shiki and Rima adopted a similar paired stance, their eyes beginning to flux towards crimson as Kaname's aura fanned out, his influence running through them.

For a moment, nothing happened. Everything seemed frozen. Silence reigned. The wind blew through. Kaname warned them—and it was a small mercy, if you wanted to call it that—and if it worked, then perhaps, it would work out peacefully.

The red-eyed vampire miss before them gave a scream of frustration, then lunged for Kaname's throat.

Kaname saw her fast movement as something happening in slow motion. His eyes fluxed crimson, mapping out the veins throbbing beneath her pale skin, his ears heart every flutter of her heartbeat. He could see in her eyes the horrid fascination and the absolute terror as she was suddenly in range of his true aura—the one he'd tempered to a five feet radius around him. He knew in that instant it would be downhill from there.

_Peace_.

Screw that. Who was he kidding?

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><p><strong>~*~*~*Thanks for reading!~*~*~*~<strong>**Leave a comment if you like. I love knowing what you think (and I do take your suggestions seriously!). ^_^ **


	21. Chapter 21: First Attack, Fight!

**A/N: Thank you very much for the kind comments and faves/alerts. Happy New Year to all my wonderful readers, old and new! This chapter is mostly getting into Kaname and Zero's heads. Action is coming soon, promise! Please enjoy the read!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies<strong> and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This fic contains YAOI/YURI and is an M-rated story. Such themes follow in line.**

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><p>When she lunged for his throat, Kaname didn't even react.<p>

He didn't have to.

She exploded in a colorful burst of pink sparkles before his very eyes. He didn't even care whether it had been painful or painless—and he could choose, he was a pureblood after all. The vampires nearest to her exploded in similar bursts of colored sparkles. One yellow, one green, one blue—all according to the talents that belonged to them. They were nothing more the moment they entered the realm of Kaname's anger.

He was angry.

The pureblooded prince stood tall, the haunted, sorrowful look on his face betraying nothing and yet saying everything as the crimson in his eyes dimmed to a darkened burgundy hue as the sparkles continued to shower down around him and the Night Class. He didn't flinch, he didn't waver and when his head bowed, the entourage beside him surged forward.

The rouge vampires came in waves, with no rhyme or reason within their minds. Whatever singular order had been given, that was all they were acting on. A dull pain settled in his stomach as Kaname watched the destruction happening before his eyes. He was trying desperately to find a fix on the one controlling them, urging them onwards towards their deaths—some kind of connection—and yet, found nothing.

He was angry—but this, this bothered him. Whoever dared to play puppetmaster on something like this deserved a fate that should be hideously worse than death.

Despair had begun to work their way into his mind, hinting that the control behind this was far worse than he had initially thought. These poor things didn't have a choice and he could tell.

Showers of colored sparkles continued to pour and fall around him. The death he offered them was a gift they accepted.

He hated it.

The very fact that there was nothing for him to put his pureblood mind to, had set his temper flaring off again and he struggled to curtail it, attempting to temper his powers even in the situation they were in currently. If he wasn't careful, his temper might get away with him and he could accidentally hurt the ones that were trying to help. That wouldn't do. That wouldn't do at all and he'd certainly have a hard time fixing that if he didn't intend to use his name and position to take care of it. He simply couldn't hurt these people. Not these.

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><p>Zero wasn't exactly the kind of hunter to bolt through the door and run wild. In fact, that was something he tended to double-check at the door, in spite of his shoot first and ask questions later personality. His first instinct in a time and place where his life was not in immediate danger usually involved calling someone—Yagari mostly—for backup and then charging into the fray. In fact, his hotheadedness only showed in the shortest bursts when it came to official work. Official work in terms of standing on the front stoop of his adopted father's mansion and taking in a literal wall of vampires hovering just outside the courtyard boundary.<p>

The silver-haired hunter swallowed hard. His hunter and vampire senses had begun to argue with each other inside of his head and while it would normally drive him insane, he was simply agreeing with them. This was certainly something he had never seen before. Never, ever seen before.

He kind of hoped that he'd never see it again.

His grip on the Bloody Rose tightened as he made out the long, wide line of vampire eyes staring back at him. Some glowed, some glittered and some were so dark that it made his breath catch in his throat. That kind of blackness signaled the last lines of humanity slipping away as a vampire transitioned from bloodsucker to nightmarish monster.

He'd seen it happen enough times to know that when it did, it wasn't pretty and anything remotely human in the area wouldn't last long—unless of course, he got to the monster first. A sickening feeling of dread spilled over him as Zero squared his shoulders and pushed the troublesome thoughts away. He had plenty of things to think and deal with later, right now he needed to focus the most—and he would.

The confusion melted away to the hardened exterior that literally embodied the hunter side of Zero Kiryu. The ones coming before him weren't worthy of mercy—if such a thing existed—his grip on the Bloody Rose tightened. They weren't acting in their right minds and he wasn't going to take any chances with them. The wild, angry look in their eyes spoke volumes and Zero was most certainly listening.

For a moment, nothing had happened, it seemed as if nothing would happen. Kuran had managed to find the head of the line and seemed to be speaking to a pretty-faced specimen just a few feet in front of him.

Zero was mildly surprised that the girl actually had the guts to speak to the pureblood, considering the state he'd seen Kuran flip-flop into with no little thanks to a certain Viktor's verbal prodding. Self-restraint was surely a virtue, because Zero knew from experience that the too-calm expression on Kaname Kuran's face usually meant that heads were going to roll in some way or another.

At any rate, he definitely wouldn't want to trade places with the girl that seemed to be actually arguing with the pureblood. _Turnips for brains_. He thought, darkly, waiting and watching. The tension in the air was too much. There was no way this could possibly end peaceably and quite frankly, with the adrenaline now coursing through his veins, Zero didn't want it to.

Some action—any action—was sure to help clear his head and right now, the easiest fix for the confusion threatening to break free in his mind was the ever growing line of red eyes lining up before him. A high-pitched scream brought a wince to his face, vampire hearing registering a vampire shriek of disgust. The girl had pushed the wrong button it seemed.

Zero turned in time to see the beauty lunge for the pureblood. The girl exploded in a burst of pink sparkles. Zero felt his breath catch in his throat as his gaze flickered from where the girl had been to the pureblood himself. Kaname hadn't even blinked. That was pure raw power. That was all Kaname. Zero stared as several more bursts of colorful sparkles caught his eye and Zero realized that the other vampires were now moving forward.

Kaname hadn't moved.

A faint snarl caught his ear and lavender eyes flashed with ice as the silver-haired hunter raised the gun and fired to his left, not even bothering to see where the shot would go. He knew it would find its mark. The other Night Class students had rallied around Kaname's side and when his head bowed, they all surged forward.

Zero swore softly and whirled around to face the oncoming line. He had to do this. Had to keep them all back. Had to do it for them all.

For Cross.

For Yuki.

Perhaps…for Kaname.

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><p><strong>~*~*~Thanks for reading! Leave a comment if you feel like. It makes me write faster!~*~*~*~<strong>

**A/N: And it looks like Zero's thoughts may be changing, eh? ^_^ Lucky for Kaname.  
><strong>


	22. Chapter 22 : First Attack, Mistake 1

**A/N: Thank you very much for the kind comments and faves/alerts. University has started up again, but I'm not completely buried in homework, so I can spare the time to write a bit this weekend. Yay! Please enjoy the read. ^_^  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I do not own Vampire Knight, nor it's characters, it is solely the creation of the wonderfully talented Masturi Hino. I only lay claim to my original characters, plot bunnies<strong> and the idea of Bluebloods. **

**WARNING: This fic contains YAOI/YURI and is an M-rated story. Such themes follow in line.**

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><p>Zero was relieved when he felt Yagari's familiar presence behind him. It gave him the freedom of mind and movement to throw himself fully into the onslaught. They worked like a matched pair that did the Hunter's Association proud.<p>

Where Yagari wove in and out, Zero ducked up and around. The interaction was seamless and perfected from years of working and training together. Yagari was every bit the master that his status and air demanded and Zero was every inch the hunter that his master had perfectly trained. The Vampire slew was slowing down, but that only meant more of a headache to the wearying fighters.

Instead of dumb blindness, the attackers were evolving and thinking, rather than running blindly.

Zero didn't like that.

"Zero, look out!" Yagari barked, stepping in and forcefully shouldering his apprentice out of the way for a well-trained shot to a flicker that almost wasn't there. "They're creeping along the shadows." He growled. "Your eyes are better than mine, make use of them!"

The silver-haired hunter scowled, but didn't object, drawing a little harder on his vampiric nature to aid him in the heat of the moment. He could see in a moment, what Yagari was talking about. The vampires were starting to blend into the shadows in a way that was truly disturbing. "Master?" Zero hissed, moving with the one-eyed man to use a sturdier tree for refuge.

"I see them." Yagari muttered, leaning back against the tree and working to focus. A stabbing pain pierced his chest and he sucked in a sharp breath. "It's like there's something hanging onto them."

"The shadows are hanging onto them." Zero snapped. "I'm not…I can't be…it's…" He stammered, whirling back and firing three steady shots to their marks. "Are you-?"

"That's not possible."

"Master-!"

"Aim for the heads, hearts or whatever you can get on them." Yagari scowled. "Just do it now!"

Zero did.

He focused. He fired. His aim was as deadly as the rest of him.

His senses practically screamed bloody murder for something horribly wrong happening around him. Zero ducked back behind the thick tree, darting a sideways glance at his master out of habit. What he saw wasn't very welcoming at all.

The older man was pressed against the tree, his breathing labored, one hand fisted over his heart, tightly clenching the fabric of his everpresent coat. His eyes had half-glazed over and suddenly, it seemed as if Zero's world spun to a jerky halt.

"Master!" He threw a wary glance over one shoulder and then grabbed the older man's shoulder, looping one arm around the unsteady figure and lowering him to the ground. His mind replayed the tackle with the blue-eyed Viktor and then Yagari's reaction. Zero clenched his jaw, reaching towards Yagari's fisted hand to gently pull it free of the fabric.

Yagari's body went limp, his hand going slack as it fell to his lap and his head rolled to the side.

The carefully contained panic Zero had bottled up, suddenly exploded.

He worked quickly and methodically, drawing hard on his vampire senses to keep his wits about him. Thankfully, there was nothing approaching. Perhaps, they hadn't noticed that they'd ducked behind the tree. He hoped. He could hope. After all, everything had been weird enough today, so what was a little more weirdness.

Training kicked in and Zero went through the automatic motions that he was trained for. He checked pulse, restrictive clothing and the leftover charms in his training master's coat pocket. The young man chewed his lower lip, hesitantly, straightening up. He hefted the Bloody Rose in his left hand and fired two shots over his shoulder, without so much as a blink.

"Stupid bloodsuckers." He ground out, taking stock of the current situation. The attack had considerably slowed and Zero was now able to sense a few more Hunter auras in the area. Relief blossomed through him like a stream of water in a desert. That was good, perhaps the Chairman was good for something after all and had called backup.

Whatever the case, Zero was grateful for that. There was enough chaos still happening—albeit muted in the background—that it was mostly contained by Kaname and his troopers, was a detail that the young hunter hadn't liked. Knowing that he had some Hunter backup in the area allowed him the brief respite he needed and the time to make a quick decision.

They'd been pretty successful—enough in keeping the attackers from coming into the courtyard of the Chairman's house. As for the rest of it, well, Zero bent down to grab hold of Yagari and see how Kaname was doing. He could see the pureblood still hadn't moved from his perfect spot and his entourage, of course, was a flurry of activity around them. They played their parts quite well, circling around him and forming the front line that kept a significant amount of crazed vampires at bay.

The sight almost made him sick.

Zero swallowed hard.

He'd never seen them like this.

Whether they were acting under Kaname's influence or not, he didn't want to know. But there was nothing but brute force taking place before his horrified eyes. They were vicious, brutal and cruel in ways that he'd never expected of them. Sure, there was no picnic going on in the courtyard and manners in a fight was certainly a stupid thing, but this…the ex-human suppressed a shudder, forcing himself to refocus and ignore that.

He could process it later, if he needed.

_If_.

He didn't really want to.

Zero grunted, easily hefting the sagging weight of the older hunter against him with his vampire strength. He was worried, but now was not the time to let that worry overtake him. His mind was muddling however and knowing the dangers, Zero fought to make it work. They needed to get out of here and somewhere that help could come. Yet, even as he rationalized and reasoned out the most logical courses of action, his head seemed determined to return his eyes to the sight of Kaname in his might and glory. Zero stifled a groan.

Something about the pureblood screamed of darkness, power and absolution and Zero didn't know what to make of it. He did know that he suddenly felt as if he could spend all day staring at the beautiful, deadly creature that still commanded chaos without insomuch as dirtying his own hands.

Zero gulped.

He was mesmerized, no two ways about it.

Which was why he didn't register the little darkened blip behind him until it was a few fractions of a second too late.

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><p><strong>~*~*~*Thanks for reading! Leave a comment if you can.~*~*~<strong>

**A/N: Ack. Zero! Look behind you, you big idiot! Now is not the time to be daydreaming about Kaname-!**


	23. Chapter 23 : First Attack, Closing

**A/N: And here's chapter 23. Kaname's turn to get a little um, distracted, yes? LOL. Sorry for the short chapter, I've been trying to figure out how I want the rest of this fic to play out, so the writing is coming really slowly right now. :( Anyhow, enjoy the read. **

**See previous chapters for disclaimers/summary/warnings.**

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><p>In the midst of his carefully controlled pureblood rage, Kaname felt something sharp stab through his chest. One pale hand snapped upwards to the phantom pain that sliced through his concentration and for a moment, he faltered. It felt as if someone had dared to rip his heart right out of his chest and suddenly, breathing was difficult.<p>

A familiar burn along his left arm made him see red, white and then a vaguely familiar haze of lavender. A mumbled moan left his lips as he jerked towards the tug from the phantom pain and caught sight of something that literally made his heart catch in his throat. Zero was crouched on the ground near the one-eyed Yagari fumbling with something in the man's jacket. He gave up with whatever it was and stood, careful to hoist his teacher up along with him. He was preoccupied with his immediate business in a way that screamed danger to Kaname.

The pureblood stared in horror as one wild-eyed, crazed vampire sprang from the branches of the tree where they'd been hiding. The creature was so close and neither hunter had noticed. Something was definitely off in that corner.

The wrongness of the entire situation registered when Kaname could've sworn at a thick, dark shadow had streaked upwards from the ground and possessed the crazed vampire that now lunged wildly for the student-master duo angling towards Chairman Cross's personal quarters. His mind did the calculations in the way that he expected it and Kaname Kuran turned away from the fight and threw his power towards the single creature bearing down on the unprepared duo.

It took the very faintest twinge of effort to propel himself forward and within range, careful not to come too close and mindful not to fall too short. Kaname blurred towards the courtyard and drew to a halt several feet away from the hunter, watching with some perverse satisfaction as the wayward creature exploded in a burst of red and black sparkles.

_Red and black._

_Red and black_?

Kaname blinked. That wasn't right. Vampiric creatures didn't have double auras—he'd know if they did. Creatures always exploded in a single color—one that denoted their talent or power—if they had one. His current Puzzlement registered in the middle of what had been an adrenaline fueled impulse. His mind fuzzily recalled the instance of a shadow seeming to leap from the ground and into the pathetically out of control vampire.

_Shadow._

_Control._

_Shadow Control._

That was impossible!

It had to be. It was the stuff of legend, such legends that were so outrageous they couldn't possibly be true.

_Blackblooded fangs_! Kaname thought, darkly. Of course, several recent changes in the past few days and hours had been sure to turn his idea of normality upside down. Then there'd been all that talk of Bluebloods and from what he knew, they weren't supposed to exist either. But he'd seen the power that Viktor had displayed. A bright burning blue. The exactly opposite of the redness that he knew burned beneath his pureblooded veins.

Kaname's body tensed, coiled and relaxed in a series of split-second decisions as something decidedly dangerous whizzed past his ear—the space between his hair and the sloping curve of his shoulder—to be exact. His jaw cranked slowly into the locked position as Kaname realized that Zero had just fired a shot from the Bloody Rose barely a centimeter off from his head.

His head.

_What the-!_

Kaname vaguely registered the sound of something behind him, but his pureblood senses calmed him with the reassurance that there was nothing dangerous there, merely someone from his Inner Circle. He saw red and then violet.

Whatever had possessed the ex-hunter to do something so reckless? If he hadn't been paying attention, that centimeter of distance could've been fatal. It would have been fatal—for sure—if Kaname had not held himself perfectly still by reflex from his well-honed instincts. But his temper was still spiked and Kaname didn't even try to rein it back in. If there was a situation where he could safely burn off any excess energy, then now was one of those times. The only ones that would suffer would be those that deserved it.

And maybe Zero.

He wasn't sure yet.

_What had Zero been thinking? _

_Was he really going to try and kill him with that stupid hunter gun after all these years? _

An angry tremor rippled through him and Kaname surged forward, grabbing Zero by the throat and forcibly separating him from the now unconscious elder hunter. He hissed, meaningfully in the silver-haired boy's face, vampire instincts taking over. Suddenly, he wanted to hurt and shred the faintly trembling creature before him for putting his life in such danger. What had Zero been thinking? He was always careful and always-!

"How dare you!" He rasped.

Zero jerked, pointlessly in his grip, hands clawing at Kaname's hold on his neck. "Let me go you bastard-!" He choked out, even as the words cost him the very air he needed to breathe.

"I just saved your life!" Kaname growled. "Because you couldn't be bothered to pay attention to your own-!"

"I didn't ask you to!" Zero's grip began to strengthen as he worked to pull Kaname's hand away from the dangerous position around his throat. "And I just saved yours too so we're even!"

"Even?" A high-pitched giggle slipped past Kaname's perfect defenses. He was still seeing in slashes of red and violet and his grip tightened even more on Zero's throat uncaring of whether it was comfortable for the hunter or not. He didn't like this. He didn't like it at all. How dare Zero think that they were even? They weren't! They never would be! Not when he kept putting himself in such positions and—the body suspended by his hand began to struggle frantically and Kaname released him as an afterthought.

Zero's head snapped up and he fired twin shots from the Bloody Rose.

Just as he'd done before—Kaname tensed, bristled and remained perfectly still. The shots flew harmlessly over the same small space—the juncture between ear and shoulder curve—and something dissolved into nothing behind him. Kaname reacted a little more calmly than he felt. He reached down to the faintly trembling hunter, taking in Zero's wide lilac eyes and the faint tremor in the petal pink lips and the death grip on the hunter weapon. He felt the tingling burn of the hunter powers as the gun rejected his touch—that of a pureblooded vampire—but a little pain was nothing less than what Kaname was used to. He simply shifted his grip for his hand to cover Zero's and knelt to the ground beside him, turning—and holding the gun together—fired the shots with him.

Sixteen shots in all.

Twenty kills overall.

Zero's hand grew slack in his and Kaname knew that the shock had finally set in. Something had happened. It made him uneasy and it made him want to scream and shred something in the same instant. He didn't like this quiet, shocked version of Zero—granted that he'd only known it and seen it for several minutes—there was something far too disturbing about it.

"Zero?" He prompted. "Zero, the others can handle this, get inside."

The hunter didn't move.

"Zero!" No reaction. Kaname's hand shot out and slapped his head to the side. The pureblood dodged gracefully to avoid the wild swing that Zero threw at him in retaliation and then bent down to haul upwards the limp body of the elder hunter. "Get inside!" He growled, now relieved to know what he'd managed to get Zero to snap out of whatever it was that currently plagued him. A strange new surge of protectiveness washed over him in regards to the silver-haired hunter as he moved the older man to carry him easier and paused when the younger hunter didn't immediately obey. "Now, Zero!"

Before Zero could complain, Kaname felt his eyes flicker red once more and he growled.

Zero swallowed visibly and bolted indoors, calling for the Chairman.

Moving towards the front door, Kaname didn't look back.

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><p><strong>~*~*~*Thanks for reading.~*~*~*~<strong>


	24. Chapter 24 : Always Worrying

**See chapter one for disclaimers and warnings.**

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><p><em>PREVIOUSLY: A fight broke out in the courtyard before Chairman Cross' private quarters. Strange creatures of shadow, along with rabid, mindless Level E Vampires came out of nowhere to attack. Kaname's Inner Circle, Zero and Yagari are also joining in the fray to fight. When Zero cuts it a little close, Kaname is distracted enough to ream him out over it. In yelling at Zero, Kaname conveniently leaves himself open to the same vulnerability, only to be saved by Zero as well. Yagari is wounded and Kaname comes over to help drag him to safety in the Chairman's quarters.<em>

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><p>The Chairman was on his feet in a matter of minutes. "Where?" He demanded, an air of authority coming over him.<p>

Kaname chose that moment to enter the living room and he readily handed over the armful of Yagari to Zero and the Chairman's capable hands. A tense silence fell over them as the Chairman took charge and immediately went about the usual quick checks of pulse, breathing and scans for vampire magic. His honey-gold eyes grew wide as he realized something, but did not speak.

"What is it?" Zero nearly snarled when the Chairman continued the scan with pursed lips. "What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing is really…wrong with him." The Chairman forced a smile. "Really, Zero-kun."

The teasing was lost on the livid hunter who launched himself forward only to be caught around the elbows by Kaname's strong arms who held him back with a faint grunt of effort. "Let me go, Kuran!" He ground out, fighting against the strong hold and the arms that held him impossibly still.

"No. You wouldn't forgive yourself if you were to hurt him in his current state because you-" Kaname broke off in mid-sentence and immediately released him, a look of complete confusion on his face. It had never really mattered to him before what Zero did or how it should affect him or the pesky one-eyed hunter. It was almost as if his body had reacted without his direction.

Zero whirled around to give him a piece of his mind only to be distracted by the adorable look of confusion on the pureblood's face. Kaname seemed truly lost for a moment as if he could not explain his words or his actions. Zero blinked. He'd never seen an expression like that on the vampire's face before. Kaname was always careful about every single detail—especially if it came to things like the pureblooded mask that he wore as if it were real. His lavender-tinted eyes narrowed to points. "Keep your hands to yourself!" He bit out, harshly. He could still feel the imprints of the slender hands burning as if Kaname had held him with fire instead of just those wonderfully pale digits.

A low, rumbling growl came from the pureblood in answer and the lost expression on his face melted into a carefully crafted mask of disapproval.

Zero swallowed, finding himself taking on the same feelings of despair and uncertainty that he'd found several moments ago outside on the front lawn. It was as if Kaname was scolding him like a spoilt child and his only reaction was immediate remorse and a sudden urge to apologize so he might be forgiven. Mentally, the young hunter screamed out loud in his mind and then took a breath, exhaling forcefully as he turned to the Chairman who now stood in a corner, arms crossed, his shawl drawn tight around his shoulders. He could deal with the temperamental pureblood later. For now, there were far more important things to attend to.

The look on the older man's face stopped whatever Zero was about to say as he looked from the prone body of his sensei to the Chairman's pensive figure. "Chairman?" He prompted, after the silence stretched too long for his liking.

"I saw this a long time ago." The older man allowed, all traces of teasing and happiness having fled, replaced by this new, serious figure. "A hunter who had been caught by vampires and he threw and cast every hunter charm that he could, but it wasn't enough. However, something strange happened. The charms were repelled and they had to find a body in order to dissolve, so they were absorbed directly into the hunter himself." The Chairman stiffened. "He never cast another charm for the rest of his life, but then after that, he was a literal, walking weapon. He needed nothing else."

"W-wait, what?" Zero looked from the sleeping figure to the Chairman and he felt as if his world had finally and truly gone completely out of whack.

"A living weapon." The Chairman repeated, tiredly. "It is a rare phenomenon and something that has nothing to do with bloodlines and everything to do with natural ability." He sighed. "Touga has always been the very best of his kind. His skill was something to be remembered even when I trained beside him."

"What do you mean you saw this a long time ago?" Zero demanded. "What's going to happen to him?"

"Nothing, really, at first." The first signs of age showed on the Chairman's face. "Nothing will happen for a very long time."

The front door snapped open and shut.

Seiren entered the room, offering the faintest hint of a bow in respect to her Pureblooded leader.

Kaname acknowledged her with a flicker of his burgundy eyes.

"The Hunter's Association has finally made their presence known." Her expression gave nothing away. "They say there is nothing left."

"Evidence?"

"None."

"Find it."

"As you wish." The faithful bodyguard blurred away.

"What are you expecting her to find?" Chairman Cross eyed the Pureblood from behind his gleaming glasses. "Some secrets are meant to stay buried."

"Considering you are currently housing unknown houseguests with vampiric tendencies, your entire schoolgrounds have been torn up in a fight with creatures that should not exist and your Hunter's Association has taken their own sweet time in arriving to the party," Kaname smiled, smoothly. "I do not think you are in a position to question my course of action."

"Excuse me?" Zero sputtered. "Just what make you think you can start throwing your weight around, Kuran? Just because there's a-"

"Kaname." Seiren's voice came from the kitchen doorway. She'd returned.

The elegant pureblood merely perked a brow in silent question.

"Leave." She hissed, softly.

In the minute that Zero and the Chairman had turned to look at her, Kaname had vanished.

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><p>Seiren caught up to him as he perched atop the roof of the Moon Dorms. His deep burgundy eyes tracked all movement of the Hunters below and watched what he could from the vantage point. They scoured the area looking for clues of any sort and worked in pairs of two and three. They were quiet and stealthy in their movements, but he could almost sense their wariness all the way from the rooftop.<p>

They were expecting to see vampires.

He was glad he'd ordered everyone in. It would become a rather dull headache if he had to start with political explanations this late in the evening. The course of the wind changed and he lifted his face to greet its coolness. The temperature was different to him—as everything usually was.

"Seiren." He acknowledged, a moment later, the moment broken when he could sense her faint aura drawing closer. She had finished her original assignment. That was good.

She crept cat-quiet up beside him and took up her usual soldier position.

He almost smiled. "Find something?"

"Traces of Shadow magic." She murmured, barely audible. "Vampires were there. Level E's. Many of them. It seems they traveled quite a long way and had only the Chairman's quarters as their final destination."

"Yuki?"

"I cannot say. The attack came from all sides. No specific corner. It is easy enough to know which side of the Estate houses the guestrooms and where Miss Cross sleeps, when she is not in her dorm."

Kaname didn't answer straight away. He didn't like the detached, businesslike way Seiren had rattled off the information. Namely, he hadn't liked the way she's said it was easy to guess Yuki's location. But she was right. He knew it. She knew it. He knew that was why she'd said it. "Anything else?" He asked, calmly.

"The Hunters are worrying over something."

"Worrying how?"

"They are frightened." Her ash-colored eyes flared with a sudden light. "Very afraid as if they expect us to leap out at them from the shadows."

Kaname rose from his perch and cast a careless glance to the ground, in order to choose a safe landing spot. "They should be. They do not understand what they are getting involved with. Some things should be left alone." He scowled. He didn't really feel up to worrying about minor decisions like whether it made more sense to jump from the roof to the stone balcony or to the lawn. He turned, partially.

Seirin's dark smirk was the only expression he'd ever once seen on her face. She wore it now. "May I?"

It was phrased as a request, but he knew better. He merely grunted.

Her slender arms wrapped around him and he blinked. When he opened them once more, he stood alone in his bedroom, with the windows flung wide open and the chilly wind blowing through as the nighttime descended.

Shoving away the feelings of melancholy and frustration, Kaname's gaze lit on the stack of books he'd requested from Takuma. How nice. That would be a most welcome distraction in his present state.

The noble vampire had kept his word, as he always did, even when the task set before him had to have been anything but pleasant. It was something Kaname meant to reward him for. _Perhaps he would like some extra time alone with Aido…_

The moment the words filtered through his head, Kaname nearly choked when a perfect image of Zero flashed in his mind's eye. He blinked, rapidly a few times and then swallowed hard. Where had that come from? But just as he'd drawn on that question, the events just hours before, came rushing back to him in full force. He could see Zero fierce and vulnerable in the same moment. Graceful and deadly in the next.

It sent delicious shivers tingling up and down his spine. His hand and arm ached. Kaname drew in a careful, slow breath. He didn't really need to breathe in that sense, but some things were too close to habit for their own good.

Drawing out the chair from the desk, Kaname settled in and reached for the first book. A distraction indeed. At least, if he was going to be up, he could make himself useful by reading and learning something. Research was always a lovely alternative to letting his mind wander aimlessly. After all, if his thoughts would be constantly filled with Zero at such unnecessary times, then a distraction was definitely in order.

Sometimes, never having to sleep, was a rather horrible thing.

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><p><strong>AN: I am still having some trouble with this fic. *sigh* Again, my apologies to take so long with getting another chapter out. :( I do hope this one is up to snuff. I'm trying to figure out how I want Kaname and Zero to progress from here. Suggestions are welcome, if you feel so inclined to share. :) **

**Thanks for reading!  
><strong>


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